The Beer Whore Brothel

How Much Does Beer History Matter?

2011-09-29T08:17:00.001-07:00

I'm a fan of several different blogs that write about beer history, and in many ways I'm envious because they have access to such great historical information about brewing and beer. I've definitly been learning a lot. In particular, "Shut Up About Barklay Perkins." Ron is a serious historian on some of this stuff. Serious.

But I wonder sometimes, how important it really is.

Some folks in the blog-o-sphere begin to drool, shake and fling spittle when some publication or other makes a statement about beer history they think is erroneous. They drag people through the mud for repeating common misconceptions, and engage in verbal warfare to purge the world of this heinous misinformation. Woe be to the poorly informed!

The current cage rattler revolves around whether the Scotts had peaty beer or not. Ron and Barm (from "I might have a Glass of Beer") have even put together some google maps, peat bog maps, and coal maps to show that the Scotts used coal instead of peat to kiln their malts.

It's interesting. It's entertaining. But it's not science, nor is it proof. And I'm not sure it really matters. Really, what difference does it make whether those early beers were peaty or not? Some folks make peaty beers now and enjoy them. Some people can't stand peat in either beer or scotch. Again, what difference does it make?

Is it really important who coined the term IPA? Does it matter whether the original IPAs were stronger or not? How hoppy they were? Was it really so they'd survive the trip to India?

What about Porters? Were they really only for the working class?

For a historian, it makes a difference because you want the facts to be correct, and historians spend some serious time sifting through the detritus of the past to glean that pearl of wisdom which grants us insight into the lives of those before us.

When it comes to beer history, it makes for interesting reading. But not particularly useful. Recipes for an English Brown from a century or more ago aren't reproducable anyway. Too much has changed in the water, the techniques, the grain, the yeast, even the fuels we use to kiln, mash and boil. It's better to focus on techniques that work and produce the beer you love.

So let's have everyone in the beer world take a deep breath. If some one says something ridiculous about the history of beer. If you can politely suggest some other sources that suggest otherwise, that's great. If you can engage in a rational conversation about the subject, go for it.

If you can't, then let it go. It really isn't such a big deal.

Too Hot for the Hot Tub

2011-07-31T17:29:00.001-07:00

Okay, sure, I know Florida gets hot. This, however, has been reeeeeeeeee-diculous!

The whole nation is suffering under this record heat, and no relief seems to be in site. The economy is struggling, unemployment continues to run high, and as a nation we have a record number of dip-shits in Washington sitting on the debt issue like a mother hen on a clutch of newly laid eggs.

Worst of all, this heat is keeping me from brewing! There's just no way to go out and spend 5 or 6 hours standing around high-output burners working the mash, and boiling a wort. It's really starting to make me cranky.

I've got grains good to go. I've got hops good to go. I've got yeast starting to get past its freshness date. And I've got a ton of ideas waiting for a chance to get tested. But not in this heat, for sure.

Instead, I'm relegated to reading about brewing, studying yeast metabolism, kibitzing on the homebrewing sub-reddit, and drinking microbrews.

I guess I can always make some more mead.

How many of you are braving this heat?

National Homebrew Convention - Visually

2011-06-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

I said I'd post some pictures from the National Homebrew Convention in San Diego a couple weeks ago. Here is the first set. I'll do another in a couple days. BE WARNED: It could take a minute or two to download. There are quite a few pics attached, most of which are from the Homebrew convention. You can click on the pics for larger versions.

Next post will be mainly from the San Diego area (Zoo pics, Seal Pics, Old Town, etc.).

Huge rose at the Convention Center. Amazing Landscaping throughout San Diego. None of it native. Crazy.

The Big Stone at Stone Brewery

The Big Restaurant at Stone Brewery

Stone brewery

Most Awesome Brew-car, the Ale Camino

Moonlight Meadery (Professional Brewer Night)

Widmer (Professional Brewer Night)

Russian River (Professional Brewer Night) (Pliny is Overrated)

Lady Face (Professional Brewer Night)

Kern River (Professional Brewer Night)

Lost Abbey (Professional Brewer Night)

Coronado Brewing Company

Hob Nob Hill Restaurant. Don't eat there. Seriously. Bad service, food was frozen and reheated. Nasty.

Big homebrew kettle being sold by More Beer.

Really cool castle tap (Homebrewer Night)

B.R.E.W. Pirates (Homebrewer Night)

Panorama Picture of The Awards Banquet Dinner

Tampa Representin' Large!

Rogue sponsored dinner, and provided a nice assortment of beers to match the courses.

More Florida peeps

More Tampa/Florida guys. Drunk love is beautiful.

Chef Sean Paxton, the Homebrew Chef, mastermind of our amazing dinner/beer pairing

Special Rogue "Gift" Beer presented at the end of dinner. Haven't even tried it yet.

Top 10 Beer Shirts I saw at NHC

2011-06-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

10) "I'd rather be brewing."

9) "Beer is God's way of saying he loves us."

8) "Winning never sucks!"

7) "Thick & Nasty"

6) "I brew, therefore I am"

5) "Brauvernugen"

4) "Fermentaboutit"

3) "I am drunkard, beer me roar"

2) "Stop staring at my beers"

1) "Buy a man a beer, he wastes an hour. Teach a man to brew, he wastes a lifetime!"

Getting Yeasty

2011-06-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Chris White of White Labs is giving the next presentation, "Choosing the Right Yeast." I'm really looking forward to this, since Chris is an AMAZINGLY knowledgeable guy when it comes to all things yeast. I've learned a lot about yeast, propagation, esters, phenols, etc., just by reading past presentations and papers that he authored. I'm ready to get my learn on! Based on the contents, this is going to be another glorified bullet list, rather than a nicely written, well-thought out treatise. Sue me.

Chris and Jamil Zainasheff have a new book out called "Yeast." Based on some of the early info here, it sounds like a good book to pick up for any brewer who wants more info on yeast biochemistry.

Kingdom-Phylum-Class-Order-Family-Genus-Species. Strain is below that normal classification level. Thanks to yeast's ability to bud, they can spontaneously create new and different strains. Strains have a tendency to be pretty stable which is what allows them to be consistently used for beer.

Ale yeast: A big class with many strains. All those strains share some characteristics: Warmer temperatures, ferments clean to fruity, usually a "top cropper", stores well. Typically pitch 10 million cells per milliliter

Hefeweizen yeast: Produces a lot more banana and clove phenols, has low flocculation, low diacetyl, can produce sulfur, ferments very rapidly, but not a great cell count. Top cropping is the best way to collect a Hefeweizen slurry.

Belgian Yeast: Ferments with unusual wild-like character, has low flocculation, low diacetyl. Also ferments rapidly, can produce sulfur and can be very fruity.

Lager Yeast: A different species from standard Saccharomyces C. Ferments clean, will not drop out quickly, will produce diacetyl, will produce sulfur. Slow fermenter, that can't usually be top cropped. Typically pitched at 50 million cells per milliliter. Lagers definitely need a diacetyl/sulfur rest in order to drive off some of the volatile sulfur, and allow the yeast to consume some of the excess diacetyl.

Wild Yeast types: Mainly Brettanomyces used in beers. Necessary to really produce an authentic "English" character. Brett. is usually used in secondary fermentation, and in bottle conditioning. Brett. is sometimes referred to as "Dekkera", which is the asexual form of the yeast. What is unique about Brett. is the ability to produce B-glucosidase, which can break down wood sugar cellobiose. Cellobiose is produced when fire is used to toast the inside of barrels. Brett also produces isovaleric acid and guaiacol (4-ethyl guiaicol is common).

Bacteria: Most bacterias are undesirable, producing off flavors and acids like acetic acid. Lactobacillus, pediococcus are the lactic acid producing bacteria. They don't mind alcohol, low PH, and anearobic conditions of beer. Unlike most bacteria, these also reproduce very slowly. Acetobacter, Gluconobacter, Obesumbacterium, Rahnella are other examples of bacteria that can grow in beer. Very few Gram-positive bacteria can live with Hops (which blocks nutrient absorption).

Jamil's Strain Selection Process
Set goals (ABV, IBU, SRM)
Flavor concept (Malty, hoppy, other?)
Select likely candidates
Test batches

Key Requirements
Flavor (Bitterness, maltiness, sweetness, alcohols, esters)
Alcohol Tolerance
Attenuation
(Some other stuff that I couldn't type fast enough!)

End of session, end of notes. On to more beer!

Another Day, Another Hangover...

2011-06-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

Last night (Friday night) was Homebrew Club Night here at the National Homebrewer's Convention in San Diego. Many local, and quite a few not-so-local (HUGE props go out to New York and Michigan!), clubs brought their finest libations in and served them up to the bleary eyed, half drunk already, costumed masses of homebrewers attending this year's festivities. Those weary masses were still up to the challenge of enjoying some malted beverages even after 3 days of continual inebriation.

My hangover this morning was intense, and well earned.

As I sit writing this, I'm sipping on a "Beermosa", a strange combination of carbonated tang and a Belgian triple. It would have been a lot better with real orange juice, but otherwise the flavors meld pretty well, and the alcohol is calming the sudden football sized tumor that grew in my skull during the night. It may have been from the Romulan Ale (Yes, it was VERY blue).

According to the group running the show, there were over 700 unique kegs of homebrew here last night. I think I personally only got through half, but that's only because I ran out of consciousness, making it difficult to crawl between taps. No two beers were the same, even though there were many of similar styles. Almost every booth had something odd on tap as well, showing off local flair and creativity.

The fun didn't stop there, of course. Once again, after the drink fest inside the convention center, the hospitality suite opened up in the tiki house. At 11am, I'm still not seeing a lot of the poor souls who got sucked into the black-hole vortex of the tiki house. They may be lost forever, their souls getting closer and closer to Ninkasi, but never quite reaching her golden radiance.

Off to lunch. We're heading to Green Flash Brewing's new facility. More blog later.

'Tis the Saison

2011-06-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Dear lord. Just sat down in "A Saison for every Season", and the speaker just informed us that there are 7 beers to drink in this session. I'm already half in the bag from the last session. This could be grueling. I'm going to stick with some disjointed, bullet like notes. not sure I can mount an actual monologue.

This session is being given by Drew Beechum. It's very quickly clear that Drew is a huge Saison fan, and isn't too happy with some of the beers that get that label. He launches the session by quoting Peter Bouckaert, "In Belgium, there are no styles". Drew believes that Saisons, then, are really just an amalgamation of 20th century styles. The BJCP "Dupontish" model just doesn't fit many saisons. Here is what Drew says Saisons are NOT: Not heavily spiced, not cloying/clinging sweet, not flat, not acetic sour either.

Drew says a saison should be: Dry, earthy, spicy (from the yeast, eugenol), lively, yeast driven.

All the beers we're tasting are based on the same simple wort, the same hops, the same fermentation conditions (except for one beer, noted below). The only difference is the strain of saison yeast and whether or not Brettanomyces was added in the fermentation cycle. We didn't actually find out the yeast type until after we had done our tasting notes. I've included the yeast type after each brief beer description (Very brief :-)

First sample definitely fits Drew's definition of Saison. Quite dry and earthy, with lots of carbonation. Definite clove notes in the aroma. Some banana phenols in the nose as well. WYeast 3711 French Saison

Second beer is a lot more earthy in the nose, some lemony undercurrents. Strong barnyard taste. A lot like licking a donkey's ass (based on what Andy has told me). This is not something I would want to drink, nor would I recommend anyone else drink it either. This was fermented with WLP 565 Saison 1. The temperature was jacked up to 85 and held there. That definitely contributed to the nasty character.

Beer Three: Some banana notes in the aroma, Not nearly as earthy as beer two, but still has a certain amount of barnyard. WLP 565 Saison, not heated. Amazingly different considering it is the same yeast, but this one was never heated.

Beer four has a very strong clove note. Nice aroma, some darker fruit in the aroma, some lemony character in taste. WLP 585 Saison 3

Beer 5, nice fruity aroma, some spicy, fruity taste. Very dry, and clean. EC 408 Saison Brasserie (Man, all these beers are starting to add up!)

Beer SIX: Earthy, leathery, mushroom like aroma. Very dry, finishes clean. Drew mentioned Horehound, which I can kind of see (Taste?). EC 403 Farmhouse Brett

Beer Number Seven: Nice strawberry notes in aroma, very smooth and rounded. Nice earthy taste, but some slight, solventy back notes. FV13 Fantome (Bruery) Since this was pulled from The Bruery's, stash, you WILL NOT be able to find it anywhere. You may want to just go buy a Fantome, and propagate that!

Drinking the World with Randy Mosher

2011-06-17T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today is day two for the National Homebrew Conference out here in FREEZING COLD, DAMP, SEMI-CLOUDY SAN DIEGO. I'm slowly freezing to death. My extremities are bloodless and withering away. My water bottle in my room froze-over last night. I had to ice skate to the conference this morning. 4 miles, uphill. Both ways.

Yesterday is a blur of sessions on hop isomerization, brettanomyces facts and figures, and beer, beer, beer and beer! Last night was pro-brewers night. More on that in a follow-up post. One measly live blog post is all I produced. Good thing I'm not doing this for a living. As I start the day today, I'm feeling more "writerly", so with any luck at all, today's output will be a little better.

This morning, I'm sitting in on Randy Mosher's session called "Homebrew Planet." Randy has been traveling a lot recently, and is bringing back some great information about what the homebrew scene is like around the world. Well, at least where he's been traveling. Along with the lecture, he's brought a bunch of beers that are spiced with exotic spices, and is passing along odd spices and herbs that we just don't see here.

Our first beer is a reproduction of an Italian beer from Del Borgo, a witbier with muscat grape juice. 50% malt, and 50% Sangiovese grape juice. Nice perfumey, wine nose, with a soft malty flavor. OG 1.045, with a hint of Coriander, ginger, cardamom, lemon. Final alcohol 6-7%. It's 9am. I guess a hair of the hound is good for what 'ales' ye!

Our second beer is a chestnut beer. The beer was 50% pale, 20% malted wheat, 7% melanoidin, 3% Crystal (20-40 Lov), 2% black malt, and chestnut grits and chestnut honey. Must have been some other stuff too, because that doesn't add up. The original gravity for this beer was 1.055, and the alcohol-by-volume (A/V) is around 5.7%. Apparently, in Italy, the government subsidies brewers to make chestnut beer. The Italians hate chestnut beer, but the government money is apparently good. The chestnuts do provide a far amount of astringency, but the nice nut aroma, and the nuttier tones are pretty nice. I haven't had breakfast, so these two beers are already giving me a slight buzz.

Moving on to Scandinavia and Denmark, now. Sohti, Gotlandsdricka, and Farmhouse beers are the traditional styles, and still popular among the regions homebrewers. I don't know a damn thing about the first two (Only a little about Farmhouse ales). Guess I'll need to do a little research. Good thing you aren't reading this for educational purposes... From what Randy told us, taxes on beer in Denmark are $1.50 per 12 oz, making commercial ventures extremely difficult. As for popular regional spices, Bog Myrtle is the heir apparent. Mr. Mosher didn't have any beers available to highlight this area, but he did pass around some dried Bog Myrtle for us to smell and taste. It has a somewhat resiny, hoppy aroma, making it fairly easy to imagine its use in beer.

Uh oh. Here comes beer number three. Halfway around the globe from our last stop, Randy has pulled us over to Brazil. The beer we're being poured now is an IPA made with Rapadura, a Brazilian unrefined sugar. In Brazil, Rapadura is considered "poor people's sugar." The sugar lends a dark malty, not much like molasses character to both the aroma and flavor that really makes this beer work. Even though there is significant German influence in the country, Brazilians don't follow the German lead on beers. Instead, Brazilians drink their beer very light, very dry, and very very cold. Like 24 degrees (-30 C). Other ingridients commonly used by Brazilian homebrewers include Manioc, tropical fruits, exotic honeys and tropical hardwoods like umburana, balsam and Brazil nut wood. I'm having a second glass of the Rapadura IPA. My typing skills are atrophying rapidly.

Off to beautiful Argentina. Very enthusiastic homebrewers, but the economy is tight, and the general mood is gloomy. Randy says their palate is fairl limited since meat and sugar seems to be the extent of what they eat. Salt is about the only spice. Dorada Pampeana - "Pampas Gold" is a popular beer made with pampas grass sugar. Argentine cascade hops exist, but are pretty rough, so brewers have to rely on imports. The beer for Argentina is made with Dulce de Leche (essentially cooked milk-caramel). 18 lbs maris otter, 1.25 lb chocolate malt, 1lb brown malt, and some other ingredients I couldn't keep up with the slides. The beer is spicy, with some residual sweetness from the caramel.

Another massive global shift, and we're talking about Australia. Australians have access to a wide variety of unique honeys, and use them liberally. Varieties such as Macadamia, Leatherwood, Eucalyptus, Sugarbag and Ironbark. Herbs include Tasmanian Pepperberry, lemon myrtle, strawberry gum, aniseed myrtle, and roasted wattleseed (acacia). For the beer, Randy has supplied a Hibiscus triple. Fairly strong, slightly flowery, but the hibiscus doesn't really seem very strong. Right on the heels of the Hibiscus is a Wattleseed brown ale. The wattleseed is nutty late in the finish, and smells quite nice.

It's now 10am. That's a lot of pints in the last hour. My writing continues to erode in quality and quantity, but I doggedly persevere for you, my loyal readers.

Final beer is a black wit with Mexican peppers and sage. Sage is noticeable in nose, and HUGE in the taste. Barely tastes like a beer. Of course, I can barely keep writing. Beer Good. Me get more beer. Ungh.

Final note: Got a hold of some of the Tasmanian Pepperberry. Tastes a lot like black pepper, but the heat comes on and continues to build late. After some lingering burn, the berry turns sweet and back to peppery. Very nice. I need to do a beer based on this spice!

Stay tuned. Next up is a session serving saisons. This could be a long day...

NHC kicks off!

2011-06-16T13:48:00.001-07:00

Here I am at the first session of the 2011 National Homebrewers Conference. More than 700 kegs of homebrew here, and thousands of commercial beers. The San Diego weather is cold, but the beer and comradery are abundant. Time to get my knowledge on!

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Advice for New Mashers

2011-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Not that kind of masher, you freak! This is a beer blog, fer cryin' out loud!

No, I'm talking about peeps that are new to the all-grain mashing aspects of home brewing.

I was over on the BeerSmith forum today, and I saw a question from someone who was preparing to do their first all grain batch and needed some assistance. No one had answered yet, so I piped in with my response. I thought I'd share that exchange here, too, since it's a good question. I'm even going to follow up a bit after:

Newbie with Mash Question:
Hello fellow brewers. I am brewing my first all grain beer kit and I have a delima. I am wondering if I can get some advice. My problem is the kit directions and the BeerSmith sparge temps don't match.

Mash:
Directions- heat 1.25 gal to 1 lb of grain to 20F above mash temp (ideal mash temp 150F). So that would be 170F.
BeerSmith- 13.44 qts of water at 165F. (My equipment profile is set to 7.5 gal brew pot and 10 gal igloo cooler)
Both say hold at 150 for 60 minutes.

Sparge:
Directions- Heat 5 gal of water to 175F and put in hot liquor tank (another 10 gal igloo cooler with rotating spray bar). Once you have used or reached 6.25 of wort begin heating for boil. Don't run off more than 6.25 gal of wort.
BeerSmith- 4.59 gal of 160F water and add water to achieve boil volume 6.41 gal.

This is my question; which do I follow or should I mix and match? I was thinking use BeerSmith's temps and the directions water columns for sparge to keep me from having to add water to reach the boil volume of 6.25.

What do you guys think?

Big Dog:
Use BeerSmith.

It's not that there is anything necessarily wrong with the other directions, it's just that those directions were written as a very general case example. Chances are that using EITHER will result in an enjoyable beer, just with subtle differences. One may have a fuller mouthfeel, or might attenuate slightly more, or the ABV could be slightly different. With brewing, there are a lot of "right" answers available from a specific set of ingredients.

As you learn more about all grain, you will learn how to 'tune' BeerSmith to your specifics. I.e. your specific mash tun, your specific mash schedule, even your specific water profile. As you do so, BeerSmith will change instructions to fit your needs thereby helping you achieve the exact frothy libation you dream about.

Either way, remember RDWHAHB (Relax. Don't Worry. Have a Homebrew).

The thing about mashing is it's a natural process. At certain temperatures, certain enzymes activate and start going about their enzymatic action (mainly breaking down long-chain, hard-to-use starches into small-chain, easily digestible sugars). And like most natural processes, there is a range of temperatures where the enzymes work, and a varying amount of time that it takes for them to do their job.

New brewers have a tendency to think that every element must be perfect in order for Beer to be the result, when in reality Beer wants to happen. That's right. Nature has setup a system where beer is a natural byproduct of that system! All we need to do is coax it along, and tailor it to the specific kind of beer we're shooting for. It really is that easy.

So, in all modesty, I gave some pretty darn good advice.

Wish it were mine, but I can't really take credit for it. I learned it from others. Some of them legends like Palmer, Zainasheff, and Papazian. Some of them local brewing Gods like Gladish, Stober, and Pierson. And I learned it from the school of hard-knocks too. No substitute for a good teacher they say, and I agree.

And we all learned from Past Masters, who learned from earlier masters, who really just watched Old Momma Nature in action.

Brands Boast Big Boutique Beers

2011-05-13T12:04:00.000-07:00

I understand the thought process: If a little is good, then a lot must be better.

With such a simple thought in mind, the race was on for bigger, bolder, more "extreme" beers and the breweries responded in kind.

Cigar City's Hunahpu,
3 Floyd's Dark Lord,
Blind Dog's Sink The Bismark,
Sam Adam's Utopia
etc.

The actual number of beers that could be called extreme is huge, and might even cover every brewery on the planet. Some of these beverages are so extreme it's difficult to call them 'beer' at all.

And this isn't new. Jim Koch is credited with coining the term "extreme beer" back in 1994 when referencing Sam Adam's Triple Bock, a 17.5% ABV beer that set the record and started the extreme explosion.

Now it's Imperial this and Dopple that, double digit ABV and triple digit IBUs. One sip and you're too drunk to drive, or your taste buds are so wrecked you can drink Old Milwaukee without even gagging.

But isn't enough enough? I've had a smattering of sample session for these salacious salutaries, and frankly they're just OK. To quote a great drinking movie, "That dog won't hunt."

Some of these deleterious decoctions are drinkable, in small doses. Some are drinkable "just to say I did". Some are really only drinkable on a dare. Damn few are good enough to kick back on a lazy summer day and enjoy a few brewski's on the patio while the kid's mow the lawn and the wife works on dinner (Yeah, it's a slightly chauvanistic scene, but you're welcome to come up with your own fantasies on your own time).

Oh and let's talk about the cost of these itinerant intoxicants. A hundred US for a bottle isn't all that uncommon. Hell, I saw an empty bottle of Dark Lord for more than $35 on EBay! That is INSANE! At an exorbitant $8 per bottle for "craft" beer you could easily get 10 bottles for what you would pay for being extreme.

I'm really looking forward to the time when the beer everyone is talking about isn't because its made from Guadalajaran kangaroo poop, and spiced with Yak flower from the slopes of the Himalayas, but is instead a good middle-of-the-road, lawnmower beer. Something refreshing, not too sweet, not too thick, not too bitter, not too -- too.

I know there are good beers out there. Shouldn't we give them some love and praise too? Let's all spend some time on the simpler suds. These beguiling barley beverages balance beautifully while boating bayside or basking buns on the beach.

You won't be disappointed.

Brew-tal day, but I'm Hoppy.

2011-03-19T14:01:00.000-07:00

After 9 hours, too many beers, and a lot of work, the first 10 gallon batch off the new rig is complete.

Some things about the system worked great:

The kettles work nice
The burners (other than a couple odd flame-outs) were seriously hot and even 15 gallons of water changed temp quickly.
The stand is stable and once the wheels are locked it doesn't budge.
Stainless is great for cleaning. A little water and a brief wipe down and they were good to go.

Some things didn't work so great:

The frame gets HOT. REALLY hot. Not hot enough to be an issue, but hot enough that I left myself a nasty blister on a finger (not to mention some scorched flesh left behind).
The HERMS coil is REALLY restrictive. It works OK for sparging, but it's way too tight for use as a cooling coil. I can't wait for my plate chiller to arrive.
Had an issue with one of the site glasses not letting liquid in, but once we got it cleared it was all good.
Not crazy about the March 809. I may end up switching out to the little giant. The lack of self-priming on these damn things sucks. Maybe I can find a bleed-screw add-on. That might help.

Beautiful day, weather wise, and now I'm beat and ready to put my feet up a spell.

Later my friends.

First Cool Runnings Pt. Fin

2011-03-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

So the pilsner is done. It's cooling on its way to the 60s as we speak. Overall the system runs great and I'm full of jealousy!

Kilroy

Chilling and Cooling. Still

2011-03-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

This is taking a lot more time to cool than I thought it would. As it turns out, the pump isn't strong enough to really whirlpool with the coil in place. The hermes coil seems to seriously restrict the wort flow.

So, instead of cooling nicely, we cooled the bottom third of the wort to 80 while the top third was somewhere around 140... Now we're stirring ever 5 minutes or so, and we got more ice. I really can't wait for my plate chiller to show up.

Baby, it's Warm Outside

2011-03-19T11:03:00.000-07:00

Jeff

The boil is done, and now we're chilling the wort through the HLT. My buzz is somewhat faded, so I need to pop another brewski. So far, we've dropped 60 degrees in about 5 minutes. Not as good as a plate chiller, but not bad.

Andy

My name is buzz lightyear. I am the man.... whitie! That is all.

Drakes's Crude Oatmeal Stout

2011-03-19T10:22:00.000-07:00

And now a word from our sponsor. OK, not our sponsor, but a beer we've been requested to review, so no better time than the present!

Beer:

Drake's Crude Oatmeal Stout

Brewer:

Erie Brewing Company, Erie PA

Overall

Very dark, opaque beer with off white and full head. Head retention is good and laces the glass nicely. Aroma is primarily coffee, with some lighter chocolate and some toast, biscuity notes. Mouthfeel is medium full, and carbonation is a little on the high side for the style.

Jeff (38)

I like this. Granted I'm feeling the 6 or seven that proceeded it, but its a good, clean finishing stout that is enjoyable without being too heavy or clingy. The oatmeal definitely adds some creaminess to the feel and the sweetness is fairly well balanced against the hop bitterness.

Andy (40)

As oatmeal stouts go I admit my 2 point discrepancy is all about the lack of any harsh caramel tastes or overly bodied beers you can get with most traditional oatmeal stouts. So I gave it a little higher score on pure preference.

Uh Oh. This Could be Trouble

2011-03-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Jeff

So, I'm sitting here getting kind of hammered. We've been through a six pack of fairly big beers, and I am definitely feeling it. Our first hop addition is in, and we're getting close to our second. All in all, we'll be putting about 11 oz. of Saaz in this bad boy. Andy claims he's not drunk, but he's slurring his words, and swinging all my golf clubs. Yeah, he's not feeling it.

Andy

I slur anyways, so that is completely inconclusive. I blame my southern upbringing. In between hop additions and starting to think about thinking about the wort chilling and fermenter sanitizing.... for now I'm going to have another beer. :)

Jeff

Apparently, Andy just realized he's a slurry drunk. Now he's going on about some boss he had with a cuban wife who could really cook, and he "pigged himself out." That's a quote people.

Andy

This much is true. Can't really understate the quality of Cuban cooking!

The Heat is On

2011-03-19T09:28:00.001-07:00

Okay, we are boiling and the boil is good. A REALLY good boil, too. Oh, and a note to the challenged (i.e. ME): Don't touch stainless steel that is really close to flame. Skin turns white and sticks really, really quickly. Don't ask.

We are doing a 90 minute boil (to be sure to drive off all the DMS), so were only a few minutes away from our first hop addition.

Yeah!

First Cool Runnings Pt. 3

2011-03-19T08:51:00.000-07:00

Kilroy back.

So the new system is SOOooooo easy to use. A couple of hose changes... make sure a pump is primed (Jeff is such a pussy when it comes to having scolding wart pouring over his hands) and you're pretty much sitting back sucking down left over competition beers your judge friend ganked from who knows what competition he was judging.

Anywho, kettle full and almost to boil RIGHT on with the OG est...
Jeff hasn't done any bodily harm to himself.
I have my nice cool buzz now all I need are those tasty waves!

Kilroy

Non-priming pumps SUCK

2011-03-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Water at 200 degrees, squirting all over your hands is rather unpleasant. That is the result when you are trying to reprime a march pump that just doesn't want to prime. Not fun. At all.

Any-who, Andy, master of the skin flute, is serving beers at a prodigious rate. Everything is moving pretty smoothly. The wort is AMAZINGLY clear thanks to the herms, and we are getting ready to sparge and transfer for the boil. Excellent!

First Cool Runnings Pt. 2

2011-03-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

I'm watching Jeff try to use his pH meter....

... 'what is this... NNnnnooooooo'
... 'meh I'll just fake it' (Sorry Mrs Jeff)
... '5.6 not bad'

At some point in history, brilliant yet mingblowingly dangerous things have been discovered by stupid men... I fear we are there today...

- Kilroy, master of the pan flute

2 beers down, mash at 154

2011-03-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

This just in: Temperatures have risen considerably, with the boil kettle holding a steady 168 as the mash circulates through the herms. Scientists expect mash temps to reach 156 and hold steady for the one hour mash in.

The chief project manager (me!) and his loyal flunky (Andrew!) are monitoring the situation and drinking mass quantities of yeast by-products to maintain their health. Observers expect the situation to deteriorate rapidly.

That is all.

First Cool Runnings Pt. 1

2011-03-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all. This is Kilroy, guest beer whore/guinea pig for today's inaugural brew at Jeff's house.

The rig is most solid. Unlike my kettle and equipment all the tanks, structure, etc are clean and wouldn't lose any kind of health inspections. One thing people don't consider when making all metal equipment are things like... resonance! When you have an all metal rig, kettles and vessels you run the risk of having things vibrate at audible frequencies... so here is a little something for all you beer brewing equipment manufacturers...

PUT SOME SEALS ON THE DAMNED LIDS!

Other than that its running smooth and we have grain in mash tun and the recirculation back to the HERMS system. OH, we're at 124, time for a protein rest and a beer (9:45am :))

- Kilroy

Losing The Cherry

2011-03-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

Welcome Sports Fan! Today looks to be a marvelous day. It's a bit crisp right now (currently 52 degrees), but daytime temperatures should be in the mid-eighties and plenty O' sunshine!

Sounds like a perfect day to break in the new brewing rig. Hmmmm.... All stainless kettles, sanitary fittings, stainless stand, dual 220K BTU burners, dual pump, Hermes system. I cannot begin to describe the new and fancy ways I will be able to f*ck up beer.

But I don't mind. I'm quite proud of my new little toy and I'm looking forward to brewing on it. So proud, in fact, that I'm going to inflict, uh, I mean "share" the experience with you kind, brave, souls who put up with the general inanity on this site. That's right, I'm going to be live blogging the whole brew session and I'm not leaving out any embarrassing or stupid things that happen.

And it won't be just me. Andrew, the sometimes guest beer whore is brewing with me and I'm going to get him to do a couple entries too (he doesn't know this yet...). We're going to be doing a recipe I concocted for a Bohemian Pilsner. I named it after Vratislaus the Second, a ruler in 18th century Bohemia who greatly increase the beer production in the region by giving a tithe to the church. Not money, not for our Vratty, but instead, a tithe of Hops.

So sit back and pretend you don't have better things to do than read about brewing and looking at brew-porn. We won't tell the wife/husband/significant other/blow-up doll.

All Grain Brewing for Dummies

2010-12-30T09:58:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Time. Time for caring, sharing, and brewing! For my birthday a few months ago, I received a Bayou Classic KAB4 banjo cooker and a Coleman cooler style mash tun. I asked Santa for a shiny new stainless steel brew kettle, and on Christmas morning he delivered! Must have been a good boy. I couldn't think of a better thing to do over the holiday than to brew my first batch of All Grain home brew. I know what you extract brewers out there are thinking -- all grain is too advanced, too expensive, too hard. Bah Humbug! I had to do a bit of reading, as there are many ways to do all grain, but I wanted it to be as simple as can be. I followed the batch sparge method, and it turned out to be easier than I thought. So easy in fact, that I decided to write down the steps in hopes to encourage other extract brewers to make the switch. So without further adieu, here is how I did it:

First thing first -- equipment. This is why most people haven't made the switch to All Grain. They think it's way too expensive. You do need some equipment up front, but if you're savvy, it won't break the bank. Since you'll be boiling your entire batch (5 gallons minimum), you will need a nice turkey frier. I like the Bayou Classic because it pumps out a whopping 210k btu and doesn't break the bank at only $65 online. Not bad. You'll also need a mash tun. Many home brew stores carry pre-converted coleman coolers. I bought mine for $40 (10 gallon). So far, I'm up to $105 in costs. Third, you will need a good sized brew kettle. I went for 30 quart stainless steel at $60. You can get cheaper if you go aluminum, but I like steel. Oh yeah, you'll need propane tank if you don't already have one. You can get 15 gallon filled for about $40, then each refill is about $17. A wort chiller is nice ($40-$60), but if you have a big sink and lots of ice, that will do in a pinch. So starting from scratch, I needed about $200 sans the worth chiller. Not too bad, but it still took me 2 months before I was ready to go.

Ok, you got the gear, now go out and find you a good recipe. My grain, yeast, and hops bill was only $20. Now that's about half the cost of extract!!! I think I'm going to like this... So if you brew at least 5 times a year, the savings should pay for the equipment in about 5 batches.

Now for some terms. I find it interesting how every step in the brewing process seems to have a term that only relates to brewing beer. So I figured I'd give you the brewing term, followed by a quick definition. This is in order of the steps you must take:

Strike Water - This is the amount and temperature of H2O that you put in the mash tun before adding your grain. You need to find a good calculator, because the temp and amount depends on your batch size and how much grains you have. For my Ordinary English Bitter, I'm only using 7.5 lbs of grain, and I want my mash temp to be 154. Assuming my mash tun and grains are room temp (about 70F), Beer Smith says I need about 2.5 gallons of water heated to about 166F. That's known as the Strike Temperature.

Mash In - Basically, pour your grains into the mash tun with the strike water and mix well. Check your temp to make sure you hit your mash target. Mine was exactly 154. And mmmm does it smell good

Mash - Let the grains sit in the mash tun with the strike water for an hour. I put towels around my cooler to promote better insulation. Keeping it as close to your target mash temp as possible is key. You don't want to lose much heat!

Mash Out - So after the grist (that's brew

jargon for the crushed grains) has been in

the mash tun for about an hour, it is time to raise the heat to about 168F. This stops enzymatic activity, increases the efficiency of your mashing, and thins the mixture to make it easier to pour off your First Running (this just means your first drain from the mash tun into the brew kettle). My little Coleman cooler/towel mix did pretty well. After one hour, my mash temp was about 152-153. So I only lost a little over one degree. To mash out, just heat boiling water and add to the mash tun in order to heat the entire mixture to 168F. Tools are good to use. I calculated about 1 gallon of boiling water. I was at about 164, so I added another 2 quarts. That got me there!

Vorlauf - WTF? After mash out and before you take your first running, you want to recycle some wort back into the mash tun. This has a clarifying effect. I only vorlaufed twice. Some only do once and others do 4-5 times. Do however many times you feel it looks pretty clear. I put some aluminum foil with holes punched in so as not to upset the grain bed too much.

First Running - Your first drain from mash tun into brew kettle. This is done after mashing, mash out, and vorlauf. You can see that mine is already looking pretty darn clear!

Sparge - The act of rinsing those yummy sugars off the grains. Some of the sugars have already been leached via the first running, but sparging takes care of the rest. I use batch sparging. This is pretty simple. You basically take some heated water and add it back into the mash tun. The amount and temp of that water depends on your grain bill, so back to Beer Smith we go. For my 7.5lbs of grain we want to add 3.85 gallons of water heated to 185F. If all goes smoothly, my sparge should be 170F after adding to the mash tun. Turns out it was exactly 170F!!!

Second Running - Basically, just take the sparge liquid from the mash tun and add it to your brew kettle. For a 5 gallon batch, I want my total volume to be about 6 gallons.

My math was right on, because I equalled exactly 6 gallons. I did another 2 quart Vorlauf before emptying my second running into the brew kettle.

Boil - This is what you need a good turkey frier for. Boiling 6 gallons on a stove top ain't gonna cut it. I had never used the Bayou Classic before, but it fired right up. Once I got a good blue flame it only took 7 minutes for my 6 gallon batch to start boiling. That's the power of propane!

Chill - You want to get the wort down to fermentation temp as soon as possible. The best way is a combination ice bath and wort chiller. I don't have my wort chiller yet so just a tub of ice water for me. This process took a good 4 iterations of water

and about an hour to bring it down close to 70F. I see a wort chiller in my future.

The rest is just like any ordinary extract process -- throw it into the fermenter, add yeast, a little time, and some carbonation, and you got beer. Unfortunately, my 1.037 English Bitter only weighed in at 1.030, so I'm going to have to look at how to increase my efficiency. Perhaps fly sparging instead of batch? I'm not sure at the moment, but I'm not sweating it too much. This style is supposed to be a very small session-type beer anyway. So instead of getting a 3.6% beer, I'll probably be looking at a 2.7% beer. Since I'm going to cask condition to mimic a London style "Real Ale", this shouldn't be a problem. In fact, I was shocked to see how many real ales in London were under 3%. Most of them!

In the end it took me about twice as long to do all grain, but it was fun, educational, and now that I've done it I'm looking forward to tweaking the process to better hone my brewing skills.

Cheers!