I just today transferred Bootleg Bill's Brown Porter from the primary to a secondary and I've gotta say, I done good! It's looking and smelling a lot like Porter! Sure, maybe not as nice as my favourite go-to Porter, Boundary Road Brew's Jack The Sipper, but that's a pretty damn high bar. There's only so high you can shoot when you're brewing with Linwood tapwater and you lack a bouron (or whiskey) soaked oak barrel in which to age your beer.
That said, goddamn it smells good! I can't wait to drink it. I'm giving serious thought to just drinking it straight out of the carboy and licking the sides to get every last drop. It smells that good. But I'm getting way ahead of myself. At the moment, I lack the requisite amount of bottles in which to put said Porter. There goes a big-ass chunk of this weeks' pay. Nevertheless, there's no real urgency when it's just taking it easy in a glass carboy.
I'm going to be house-sitting for a week this week, but I'm still hoping to fire off another brew if the finances allow. I still get nostalgic about my Strontkop, so what I'd really like to try is Strontkop 2.0, the new and improved recipe, which will be the first bonafide all-grain I've had the chance to do. Besides not being hamstrung by extracts, I'll be bringing everything I've learned about brewing since the previous batch; a kick-ass yeast start (I may splurge for some fancy-pants yeast if finances permit), racking to secondary and a much clearer understanding of the brewing process in general. I can't wait!
Monday, March 31, 2014
Cider: It's Not For Everyone
I just taste-tested a bottle of Farmer Jon's Old-Fashioned Apple Cider last night and I'll put it like this; if I watch a romantic comedy movie, it really doesn't matter how good the movie is, because I will never (barring any truly outstanding movies with crossover appeal which would have to be more comedic than romantic) be a fan of the genre. And yes, while my cider ticks all the proverbial boxes and does what it does, therein lies the problem.
I hate cider.
The best way I can describe it is tasting like a very, very light (final gravity reading of 1.007!) white wine watered down and made from apples. If that makes any sense. But it's nice to know that I've really (finally) learned how to read a hydrometer and make an accurate alc/vol guess. After downing the 750ml bottle, I can attest to the 6.6% abv, double-checking for the effects of placebo drunkenness (I've been fooled before). But nope, it's the real deal!
In summary, although I done good (if I may be so bold as to blow my own horn), but now I'm stuck with bottles and bottles of cider that - quite frankly - I'd rather stick a fork in my testicles than drink. I may be a bum, but I've got standards. If I get that desperate, I can always raid the castoff $2 beer singles at work, but for now, I think I can rough it for a day or two.
In completely unrelated news, I may have found a workable solution to my bottle crisis. While I was taking out the recycling, I noticed that the Boundary Road Brew craft series 500ml bottles are almost perfect for my purposes. Proper (cappable) top and no raised watermark. That, plus the 18th Amendment, Jack The Sipper, and Stolen Base are all excellent beers. The less said about Ariba Cadabra Coffee Oatmeal Stout, the better. So if I just buy a bunch of those and drink there beer, problem solved!
I hate cider.
The best way I can describe it is tasting like a very, very light (final gravity reading of 1.007!) white wine watered down and made from apples. If that makes any sense. But it's nice to know that I've really (finally) learned how to read a hydrometer and make an accurate alc/vol guess. After downing the 750ml bottle, I can attest to the 6.6% abv, double-checking for the effects of placebo drunkenness (I've been fooled before). But nope, it's the real deal!
In summary, although I done good (if I may be so bold as to blow my own horn), but now I'm stuck with bottles and bottles of cider that - quite frankly - I'd rather stick a fork in my testicles than drink. I may be a bum, but I've got standards. If I get that desperate, I can always raid the castoff $2 beer singles at work, but for now, I think I can rough it for a day or two.
In completely unrelated news, I may have found a workable solution to my bottle crisis. While I was taking out the recycling, I noticed that the Boundary Road Brew craft series 500ml bottles are almost perfect for my purposes. Proper (cappable) top and no raised watermark. That, plus the 18th Amendment, Jack The Sipper, and Stolen Base are all excellent beers. The less said about Ariba Cadabra Coffee Oatmeal Stout, the better. So if I just buy a bunch of those and drink there beer, problem solved!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Jon Purchases Magic Beans, Considers Harvesting Yeast
I swear to god, the guy who runs the local brewshop must have seen me coming from day one. I ducked in there today - almost on a whim - to look into perhaps a heating pad. Winter is coming, after all. I'd hate for my beer to get cold before I have a chance to refrigerate it. Anywho, I was presented with two competing heat-pads, one made from plastic, the other made from wood. "What's the difference between these two?," I foolishly ask. Next thing I know, I'm being presented with a badly warped plastic pad (that just happened to be lying around) as if to say "This could happen to you!" That was enough to make me pony up the extra $20 for the wood one, so my Bootleg Bill's Brown Ale now proudly nestles on one of those. True story.
But if I may, I'd like to talk about yeast harvesting for a second. While I had previously considered yeast harvesting to be something from the deepest fathoms of Lovecraft's nightmares, it's come to my attention (on the internet - where else) that people actually do this. I've got to confess that, upon siphoning the beer from primary and being presented with a layer of curdled yeast, my first thought it usually "Yuck! This is going straight down the drain!," as opposed to "I can't wait to collect this in mason jars and use it over and over again!"
Then again, what the hell do I know? I am only - after all - a fledgeling home brewer. If it's supposed to be a cost-saving thing, I really don't see the point if all I'm using (while perfectly decent) are the $7 dried sachets of Mangrove Jack's. If I were to invest in pricier yeast, that'd be a different story. If it were something to do with cross-breeding different strains, that's definitely something I'd like to get funky with at some stage. However as tolerant as my flatmate may be, she'd be none too happy about a row of dirty-ass mason jars full of yeast taking up precious real estate in an already overcrowded fridge.
But to cut a long story short, there goes the last $60 I had for the week. Bummer. I'd hate to wager how much time and money I've sunk into this hobby, but it's been a hell of a lot for just three months. I've always maintained that it'd be cheaper just to buy beer, but if you do that, the beer barons win. And where's the bragging rights?
But if I may, I'd like to talk about yeast harvesting for a second. While I had previously considered yeast harvesting to be something from the deepest fathoms of Lovecraft's nightmares, it's come to my attention (on the internet - where else) that people actually do this. I've got to confess that, upon siphoning the beer from primary and being presented with a layer of curdled yeast, my first thought it usually "Yuck! This is going straight down the drain!," as opposed to "I can't wait to collect this in mason jars and use it over and over again!"
Then again, what the hell do I know? I am only - after all - a fledgeling home brewer. If it's supposed to be a cost-saving thing, I really don't see the point if all I'm using (while perfectly decent) are the $7 dried sachets of Mangrove Jack's. If I were to invest in pricier yeast, that'd be a different story. If it were something to do with cross-breeding different strains, that's definitely something I'd like to get funky with at some stage. However as tolerant as my flatmate may be, she'd be none too happy about a row of dirty-ass mason jars full of yeast taking up precious real estate in an already overcrowded fridge.
But to cut a long story short, there goes the last $60 I had for the week. Bummer. I'd hate to wager how much time and money I've sunk into this hobby, but it's been a hell of a lot for just three months. I've always maintained that it'd be cheaper just to buy beer, but if you do that, the beer barons win. And where's the bragging rights?
Bootleg Bill's Brown Ale - The Alpha and the Omega
Today's brew was both the end of an era (being the last partial mash I'll probably do, unless something inparticular tickles me) and the beginning of a new one, having finally gotten a mash tun. At last! No more faffing around trying to cook grains on the stove at a precise temperature, desperately fiddling with the knobs and slaving away until the only knob you want to fiddle with is your own. Nuh uh, dawg... just fill the mash tun with water of the correct temperature (using a combination of boiled and tap), dump grains and come back later!
At this stage in the game, I would have been happy with a raggedy-ass ghetto-looking Mash Tun. This is Linwood, after all. But as the guy who built it for me - my Stepfather Bill - laid down an awesome PVC-pipe and Aquairium Glue-having feat of engineering worthy of Da Vinci, I thought it fitting to name the next beer after him. Ladies and gentlemen... Bootleg Bill's Brown Ale.
Well, it was originally going to be Bootleg Bill's Brown Porter, but - although I'm partial to Boundary Road Brew's Jack The Sipper - I don't really know enough about Porters to say if it's bona-fide. I'd sure hate for online trolls here to be all like "Well, um, technically..." in their wheezy, pre-pubescent voices. So Brown Ale it is, because goddamn it, that's a sufficiently big umbrella. Anyways, here's the ingredient list of what I got jiggy with today...
1 x 1.7kg can Mangrove Jack's Tyneside Brown Ale (LME)
2kg Marris Otter Pale Malt
0.5kg Biscuit Malt
0.5kg Chocolate Malt
500g Demerara Sugar
350ml Belgian Candi Sugar
1oz Goldings (East Kent) Hops (60 Mins)
1oz Goldings (East Kent) Hops (15 Mins)
1 x Cinnamon Quill (15 Mins)
1 heaped tsp Irish Moss
Despite a little dead space in the bottom (that I'm probably going to fix using polystyrene foam as ramps), the Mash Tun worked awesomely well for mashing the grains! Sure, it was a bit of trial, error and a small pain in the ass to get an appropriate level of water to the ideal temperature of 66C, but I got there in the end. I threw in the grain, mixed it around a bit, shut the lid tight then went off to do some household chores.
An hour or so later, I came back, opened the tap and filled the stockpot with glorious, glorious wort! I heated a little extra water to 75C to do a little bit of a sparge, but nothing too heavy-duty. After about 15 minutes, I had all the wort (sans-grain) I needed and it was off to the stove.
By the time the wort was on the stove (with all the loss of heat and all), it was about 60C, so not too far to boil. On the way there, I threw in the Malt Extract, Demerara Sugar and Candi Sugar, twirling my mustache evilly in the knowledge that this shit is gonna kick like a mule. A really surly British mule with a Cockney accent.
As always, the boil went totally by the book, the additions went bang on schedule and I even through in a Cinnamon Quill (just for shits and giggles) that I had left over from the previous lot of Apple Cider I'd made. After it was boiled for an hour, it was off to the Car-Hole and into the bucket of icy water, where it sat until later in the evening.
When the wort was sufficiently cooled, I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter I'd previously sanitized. After a pre-fermentation reading (1.056, adjusted for temperature!), I threw in the yeast starter I'd made the night before, rocked it back and forth and sealed it up. We'll see what tomorrow brings for it as I take to the unenviable task of cleaning up all my shit.
But can you believe this is my sixth batch? I can't. Although it may take a while to explore the studio space of the Mash Tun (so to speak), nothing went wrong with this batch. At least to the best of my knowledge. I'm cautiously optimistic. But as I say, it's the end of an era. It's going to be weird, not using those cans of Liquid Malt Extract any more. But on the other hand, it may be incredibly liberating. I've got no idea what the hell I'm going to brew next, but I've got an inclination to try a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) brew, just to get the technique down and really get a feel for a grain and hop that floats my particular boat.
At this stage in the game, I would have been happy with a raggedy-ass ghetto-looking Mash Tun. This is Linwood, after all. But as the guy who built it for me - my Stepfather Bill - laid down an awesome PVC-pipe and Aquairium Glue-having feat of engineering worthy of Da Vinci, I thought it fitting to name the next beer after him. Ladies and gentlemen... Bootleg Bill's Brown Ale.
Well, it was originally going to be Bootleg Bill's Brown Porter, but - although I'm partial to Boundary Road Brew's Jack The Sipper - I don't really know enough about Porters to say if it's bona-fide. I'd sure hate for online trolls here to be all like "Well, um, technically..." in their wheezy, pre-pubescent voices. So Brown Ale it is, because goddamn it, that's a sufficiently big umbrella. Anyways, here's the ingredient list of what I got jiggy with today...
1 x 1.7kg can Mangrove Jack's Tyneside Brown Ale (LME)
2kg Marris Otter Pale Malt
0.5kg Biscuit Malt
0.5kg Chocolate Malt
500g Demerara Sugar
350ml Belgian Candi Sugar
1oz Goldings (East Kent) Hops (60 Mins)
1oz Goldings (East Kent) Hops (15 Mins)
1 x Cinnamon Quill (15 Mins)
1 heaped tsp Irish Moss
Despite a little dead space in the bottom (that I'm probably going to fix using polystyrene foam as ramps), the Mash Tun worked awesomely well for mashing the grains! Sure, it was a bit of trial, error and a small pain in the ass to get an appropriate level of water to the ideal temperature of 66C, but I got there in the end. I threw in the grain, mixed it around a bit, shut the lid tight then went off to do some household chores.
An hour or so later, I came back, opened the tap and filled the stockpot with glorious, glorious wort! I heated a little extra water to 75C to do a little bit of a sparge, but nothing too heavy-duty. After about 15 minutes, I had all the wort (sans-grain) I needed and it was off to the stove.
By the time the wort was on the stove (with all the loss of heat and all), it was about 60C, so not too far to boil. On the way there, I threw in the Malt Extract, Demerara Sugar and Candi Sugar, twirling my mustache evilly in the knowledge that this shit is gonna kick like a mule. A really surly British mule with a Cockney accent.
As always, the boil went totally by the book, the additions went bang on schedule and I even through in a Cinnamon Quill (just for shits and giggles) that I had left over from the previous lot of Apple Cider I'd made. After it was boiled for an hour, it was off to the Car-Hole and into the bucket of icy water, where it sat until later in the evening.
When the wort was sufficiently cooled, I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter I'd previously sanitized. After a pre-fermentation reading (1.056, adjusted for temperature!), I threw in the yeast starter I'd made the night before, rocked it back and forth and sealed it up. We'll see what tomorrow brings for it as I take to the unenviable task of cleaning up all my shit.
But can you believe this is my sixth batch? I can't. Although it may take a while to explore the studio space of the Mash Tun (so to speak), nothing went wrong with this batch. At least to the best of my knowledge. I'm cautiously optimistic. But as I say, it's the end of an era. It's going to be weird, not using those cans of Liquid Malt Extract any more. But on the other hand, it may be incredibly liberating. I've got no idea what the hell I'm going to brew next, but I've got an inclination to try a SMaSH (Single Malt and Single Hop) brew, just to get the technique down and really get a feel for a grain and hop that floats my particular boat.
If you're reading this really small tagline hoping to find something pithy or humourous, you're in for a world of disappointment. I think you'll find this tagline was nothing more than a cruel, horrible lie.
Monday, March 17, 2014
A Sober (And Very Boring) St. Paddy's Day
Once again it's St. Paddy's day and even if I had beer, I couldn't drink it because I gotta fucking work! I siphoned the cider from primary to secondary and so far, so good. It's looking like opaque fruit juice at the moment, but one would assume that it'll hopefully clear up and take on the colour of apple juice. I'll keep an eye on it.
I still need to obtain a bottling bucket, if only to prevent a repeat of the Cerveza debacle. A carboy brush would also be a good investment. Bill has promised to give me one of his work benches, so I'll have to follow up on that. Speaking of Bill, he's in the process of building me a Mash Tun and so far, it looks totally kickass! I never would have thought to use PVC pipe and food-grade aquarium sealant, but Bill's a genius and I am but a humble brewer! Obviously I'll hook him up big-time with brew, but I might have to name a beer after him too.
Celia reckons I might be able to find suitably sized (smaller) glass bottles at the Warehouse. I'm a little doubtful, but it's worth a butchers'. So far, every bottle I've come across is a screw-top, has a raised logo or both. As much as I love the 750ml flip-tops, they ain't cheap and they're a pain in the ass to deal with!
I still need to obtain a bottling bucket, if only to prevent a repeat of the Cerveza debacle. A carboy brush would also be a good investment. Bill has promised to give me one of his work benches, so I'll have to follow up on that. Speaking of Bill, he's in the process of building me a Mash Tun and so far, it looks totally kickass! I never would have thought to use PVC pipe and food-grade aquarium sealant, but Bill's a genius and I am but a humble brewer! Obviously I'll hook him up big-time with brew, but I might have to name a beer after him too.
Celia reckons I might be able to find suitably sized (smaller) glass bottles at the Warehouse. I'm a little doubtful, but it's worth a butchers'. So far, every bottle I've come across is a screw-top, has a raised logo or both. As much as I love the 750ml flip-tops, they ain't cheap and they're a pain in the ass to deal with!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The Wreck And Ruin Of Jon's Cerveza
Last night, my Cerveza became ruined.
I foolishly thought I could bottle it from the carboy with a siphon and a bottling attachment (Author's not: BIG fucking mistake!). Long story short, after the tedious process of washing and sterilizing all the bottles and equipment, the siphon decided to play silly buggers and squirt beer every which way. Then the sediment at the bottom - which had seperated nicely, leaving clear Cerveza - became dislodged and turned the whole batch into a thick, pulpy sludge.
As if that weren't bad enough, I had noticed that a goddamn fly had flown into the carboy and landed atop the Cerveza sludge. There was nothing I could do to save it, so down the sink it all went. And with it, all the time, money and effort I've sunk into it.
It was a difficult, auspicious batch from the start, so it really doesn't surprise me that it would end up like this. I ended up having a really bad panic attack and I've been down in the dumps since. Clearly I have to make a point to never make the same mistakes again. That's the only thing I really can do.
In other news, the attachments for the Mash Tun (and the grain for the Porter) also arrived in the mail today. I might have to do a little filing to make everything fit, but as long as Bill can make a 25mm hole in the Chilly-Bin, it should be an easy task.
I foolishly thought I could bottle it from the carboy with a siphon and a bottling attachment (Author's not: BIG fucking mistake!). Long story short, after the tedious process of washing and sterilizing all the bottles and equipment, the siphon decided to play silly buggers and squirt beer every which way. Then the sediment at the bottom - which had seperated nicely, leaving clear Cerveza - became dislodged and turned the whole batch into a thick, pulpy sludge.
As if that weren't bad enough, I had noticed that a goddamn fly had flown into the carboy and landed atop the Cerveza sludge. There was nothing I could do to save it, so down the sink it all went. And with it, all the time, money and effort I've sunk into it.
It was a difficult, auspicious batch from the start, so it really doesn't surprise me that it would end up like this. I ended up having a really bad panic attack and I've been down in the dumps since. Clearly I have to make a point to never make the same mistakes again. That's the only thing I really can do.
In other news, the attachments for the Mash Tun (and the grain for the Porter) also arrived in the mail today. I might have to do a little filing to make everything fit, but as long as Bill can make a 25mm hole in the Chilly-Bin, it should be an easy task.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Farmer Jon's Old-Fashioned (Sort Of) Apple Cider
1 x 2.4kg pouch Mangrove Jack's Apple Cider Extract
1kg Dextrose
500g Demerara Sugar
Flavour and Sweetener additions
1 x Crushed Cinnamon Quill
1 x Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast (M02) - Starter
1 x Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast (M02) - Dry
Original Gravity: 1.054 (Adjusted for temperature)
First brew on the new stove (and first crack at making cider) and so far, so good. No glaringly obvious mistakes at this stage. To be honest, the new stove didn't do a hell of a lot better at reaching boil quickly, but a 30L stockpot is a hell of a job for any stove. At also didn't help that I started at basically room temperature.
Anyways, I dumped all the ingredients in the pot and let it boil away, adding a crushed cinnamon quil 10 minutes out for a little more flavour. Once everything was at 100C, the boil itself went without a hitch, as is the way with extract brews. However, it would have been nice to know there was a packet of yeast (among other things) inside the pouch in a partition. Never to mind. I pitched the dry yeast with the starter, so hopefully it'll go balls-deep and ferment the shit out of it!
Among other things, it was a chance to test my new cooling system; a rubbish bin with cold water into which I put two bags of ice. When I returned an hour or so later, the ice had melted and the wort had dropped to around 40C... not too damn bad! Because I'm impatient (and working tonight), I transferred it to the primary fermenter, topped it to 23L with cold water and got a good pitching temperature of 25C.
There was a little bit of overflow with the bucket, so I'll have to be a bit more careful next time. If I brew the next batch on a day off, time won't be such a concern, so I can take a little time and get the pitching temperature a little lower.
All in all, not a bad day's wort! After I'd read the hydrometer, I decided to drink the wort in the tube. It was incredibly sweet - like a really sweet wine - and I ended up spitting it out! Hopefully fermentation will turn some of the sugar to sweet, sweet booze and the taste with smooth out a bit.
Depending on what the final gravity reads, it should come out somewhere around 5.8% to 5.9% (Author's note: at the time of bottling, I got a reading of 6.6%... hell yeah! I guess I can attribute that to using two yeast sachets instead of one.), which is more or less where my mental arithmetic put it.
1kg Dextrose
500g Demerara Sugar
Flavour and Sweetener additions
1 x Crushed Cinnamon Quill
1 x Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast (M02) - Starter
1 x Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast (M02) - Dry
Original Gravity: 1.054 (Adjusted for temperature)
First brew on the new stove (and first crack at making cider) and so far, so good. No glaringly obvious mistakes at this stage. To be honest, the new stove didn't do a hell of a lot better at reaching boil quickly, but a 30L stockpot is a hell of a job for any stove. At also didn't help that I started at basically room temperature.
Anyways, I dumped all the ingredients in the pot and let it boil away, adding a crushed cinnamon quil 10 minutes out for a little more flavour. Once everything was at 100C, the boil itself went without a hitch, as is the way with extract brews. However, it would have been nice to know there was a packet of yeast (among other things) inside the pouch in a partition. Never to mind. I pitched the dry yeast with the starter, so hopefully it'll go balls-deep and ferment the shit out of it!
Among other things, it was a chance to test my new cooling system; a rubbish bin with cold water into which I put two bags of ice. When I returned an hour or so later, the ice had melted and the wort had dropped to around 40C... not too damn bad! Because I'm impatient (and working tonight), I transferred it to the primary fermenter, topped it to 23L with cold water and got a good pitching temperature of 25C.
There was a little bit of overflow with the bucket, so I'll have to be a bit more careful next time. If I brew the next batch on a day off, time won't be such a concern, so I can take a little time and get the pitching temperature a little lower.
All in all, not a bad day's wort! After I'd read the hydrometer, I decided to drink the wort in the tube. It was incredibly sweet - like a really sweet wine - and I ended up spitting it out! Hopefully fermentation will turn some of the sugar to sweet, sweet booze and the taste with smooth out a bit.
Depending on what the final gravity reads, it should come out somewhere around 5.8% to 5.9% (Author's note: at the time of bottling, I got a reading of 6.6%... hell yeah! I guess I can attribute that to using two yeast sachets instead of one.), which is more or less where my mental arithmetic put it.
Never Shake A Baby, Unless It's A Yeast-Baby!
I must confess at this stage - having never brewed cider before - that I don't have a lot (which is to say any) experience with cider yeast.
It's the small hours of the morning and I'm giving my yeast baby a bit of a shake. And no, that's not a euphamism, so get your minds out of the gutter, you filthy shits! While it seems to be producing CO2 and that yeasty smell, there's no milky sediment like with a beer baby.
I suppose cider wort (being essentially reconstituted apple juice n' shit) is different from beer wort. Who knows how different the cider yeast strain is to what I'm used to.
I should probably take Celia's advice and stop second-guessing my every more. I had my doubts about the last one, and that ran a goddamn freight-train through the Cerveza! Hopefully this one will do a similar job on the cider.
It's the small hours of the morning and I'm giving my yeast baby a bit of a shake. And no, that's not a euphamism, so get your minds out of the gutter, you filthy shits! While it seems to be producing CO2 and that yeasty smell, there's no milky sediment like with a beer baby.
I suppose cider wort (being essentially reconstituted apple juice n' shit) is different from beer wort. Who knows how different the cider yeast strain is to what I'm used to.
I should probably take Celia's advice and stop second-guessing my every more. I had my doubts about the last one, and that ran a goddamn freight-train through the Cerveza! Hopefully this one will do a similar job on the cider.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
An Unexpected Financial Windfall (The Mash Tun Begins)
Oh, happy day! I had a bit of a financial windfall, so I was able to obtain a Chilly-Bin (the Warehouse was getting rid of 'em cheap with summer on the way out) and some other odds and sods with which to make a Mash Tun! I'm about to get dangerously funky with some all-grain brewing, but before I do, I've got two last batches to fire off...
Just for shits and giggles - and to give a little something to the gluten-intolerant in my life - I'm brewing up some apple cider from an extract kit next. I'm not the biggest cider buff, but it'll be an interesting challenge to brew something that I myself would like. And because it's an extract (with a few tweaks here and there!), it'll be a nice, easy project with which to christen the new stove.
I just made a starter (not really knowing if one even makes yeast starters for cider) with about 1/2 cup of extract, water and cider yeast. I was a bit wary about the piddly-ass starter I had last time, as the one I've got now is a whopping 950ml! I hope a little extra won't adversely affect the proceedings. After the cider is done and racked to a secondary, the last partial mash I'll be doing is a Porter. If nothing else, it'll be a chance to take the Mash Tun for a bit of a hoon before going all the way grain.
On the plus side, the new stove fucking CRANKS! I've got no doubt it'll be able to handle a 30L stockpot, so I guess I don't need a gas burner after all. As for cooling it, Celia suggested a big-ass rubbish bin into which I'll put water and ice, in lieu of a big enough sink.
After a week in the glass carboy, the Cerveza has cleared up beautifully. Every body in my body wants to bottle it NOW, but impatience has gotten the better of me with every other batch, so not this time! I'll give it another week yet.
Just for shits and giggles - and to give a little something to the gluten-intolerant in my life - I'm brewing up some apple cider from an extract kit next. I'm not the biggest cider buff, but it'll be an interesting challenge to brew something that I myself would like. And because it's an extract (with a few tweaks here and there!), it'll be a nice, easy project with which to christen the new stove.
I just made a starter (not really knowing if one even makes yeast starters for cider) with about 1/2 cup of extract, water and cider yeast. I was a bit wary about the piddly-ass starter I had last time, as the one I've got now is a whopping 950ml! I hope a little extra won't adversely affect the proceedings. After the cider is done and racked to a secondary, the last partial mash I'll be doing is a Porter. If nothing else, it'll be a chance to take the Mash Tun for a bit of a hoon before going all the way grain.
On the plus side, the new stove fucking CRANKS! I've got no doubt it'll be able to handle a 30L stockpot, so I guess I don't need a gas burner after all. As for cooling it, Celia suggested a big-ass rubbish bin into which I'll put water and ice, in lieu of a big enough sink.
After a week in the glass carboy, the Cerveza has cleared up beautifully. Every body in my body wants to bottle it NOW, but impatience has gotten the better of me with every other batch, so not this time! I'll give it another week yet.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Mister Jon's Fancy New Glass Carboy
FINALLY got a glass carboy! Using the eazy-siphon that came in the mail today, I transferred the Cerveza from the primary (plastic) to the carboy and good god, you wouldn't believe the amount of sludge that gets left behind! The colour of the Cerveza was pretty damn golden as it went through the tubing, so hopefully the final colour will look like that too.
According to a brewing book I purchased, a lot of home brewers use the '1-2-3 Method'; one week in primary, two in secondary and three in the bottle. Although six weeks is a bloody long time to wait, why would they put it in a book if it's not true? And seeing as I've already purchased said book - and the 1-2-3 method sounds legit enough - I might as well take it for a hoon.
Having a second vessel opens up a myriad of possibilities, to say nothing of all the good that comes from being able to rack beer to another container and leave all the nasty-ass sediment behind. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to replicate (with a few tweaks) the process I used for the Strontkop; brewing in a 15L pot (almost as a concentrate) which gets topped up in primary. There's no real point going all-grain until I get a Mash Tun.
But I'm sure as shit NOT boiling up that much grain in a pot again! About 3 should do, although I'd have to double check with BeerSmith. I got better results with a bucket and a sieve than with that stupid-ass grain bag. I'm also wondering if I should top it to 24 or 25 (Author's Note: thank god I didn't do this, as it would have fucked up the original gravity!) litres, just to allow for all the sludge that forms at the bottom. Something I'll have to think on.
According to a brewing book I purchased, a lot of home brewers use the '1-2-3 Method'; one week in primary, two in secondary and three in the bottle. Although six weeks is a bloody long time to wait, why would they put it in a book if it's not true? And seeing as I've already purchased said book - and the 1-2-3 method sounds legit enough - I might as well take it for a hoon.
Having a second vessel opens up a myriad of possibilities, to say nothing of all the good that comes from being able to rack beer to another container and leave all the nasty-ass sediment behind. The more I think about it, the more sense it makes to replicate (with a few tweaks) the process I used for the Strontkop; brewing in a 15L pot (almost as a concentrate) which gets topped up in primary. There's no real point going all-grain until I get a Mash Tun.
But I'm sure as shit NOT boiling up that much grain in a pot again! About 3 should do, although I'd have to double check with BeerSmith. I got better results with a bucket and a sieve than with that stupid-ass grain bag. I'm also wondering if I should top it to 24 or 25 (Author's Note: thank god I didn't do this, as it would have fucked up the original gravity!) litres, just to allow for all the sludge that forms at the bottom. Something I'll have to think on.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Batch Four: The Day After (And Stuff I Want To Buy)
I haven't totally given up hope on the Cerveza (Author's note: such was my mistake). When I checked this morning and there seemed to be a beautiful thick, foamy layer of yeast at the top. I think my yeast starter did the trick, even though I'll have to be a bit more careful about measuring dry malt extract and water amounts this time. I could swear I put 3 metric cups of water to 3/4 cup of DME, but all I got was 400ml... where the hell did it all go? Also, it might be an idea to obtain (or crudely fashion) a stir plate.
One thing that I did yesterday - that I think was a good move - was to do a little 'pre-straining' while I waited for the wort to hit boil. After the mashing was done and I'd added LME and raw sugar (yeah dawg!!), I did a few scoops with a fine sieve to get the last few bits of grain.
Obviously it's something you want to do before you add the hops, otherwise you'll just end up scooping them out. Speaking of hops, I did something else interesting yesterday and time will tell if this bears fruit. When it was time to add the flavouring hops, I didn't just dump them ALL in at the 15 minute mark. I kind of 'staggered' it... some at 15, some at 14, some at 13 and so on. It's a little trick I heard about somewhere on the internet and I thought "Why the hell not?" Mother always said 'Try new things.'
I'm also going to purchase a siphon and - if I can find a big enough one - a bottling bucket. I might as well try the whole 'batch carbonation thing and see how that tickles me. As an aside, it'll be a chance to decant it and remove a little sediment before bottling. But the important things I need (that will have to wait until I've got a bit more money) are the mash tun and some sort of gas cooker. If I could pony up the dough, a wort chiller would be great too.
Until then, I'm stuck with whatever I can boil in a 15L stockpot. Come to think of it, it might be a great chance to try out new recipes on a smaller scale (and on the cheap!). But if I do, I might as well go all-grain, because it's gonna be a pain in the arse to use half a can of malt, then seal it.
One thing that I did yesterday - that I think was a good move - was to do a little 'pre-straining' while I waited for the wort to hit boil. After the mashing was done and I'd added LME and raw sugar (yeah dawg!!), I did a few scoops with a fine sieve to get the last few bits of grain.
Obviously it's something you want to do before you add the hops, otherwise you'll just end up scooping them out. Speaking of hops, I did something else interesting yesterday and time will tell if this bears fruit. When it was time to add the flavouring hops, I didn't just dump them ALL in at the 15 minute mark. I kind of 'staggered' it... some at 15, some at 14, some at 13 and so on. It's a little trick I heard about somewhere on the internet and I thought "Why the hell not?" Mother always said 'Try new things.'
I'm also going to purchase a siphon and - if I can find a big enough one - a bottling bucket. I might as well try the whole 'batch carbonation thing and see how that tickles me. As an aside, it'll be a chance to decant it and remove a little sediment before bottling. But the important things I need (that will have to wait until I've got a bit more money) are the mash tun and some sort of gas cooker. If I could pony up the dough, a wort chiller would be great too.
Until then, I'm stuck with whatever I can boil in a 15L stockpot. Come to think of it, it might be a great chance to try out new recipes on a smaller scale (and on the cheap!). But if I do, I might as well go all-grain, because it's gonna be a pain in the arse to use half a can of malt, then seal it.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Batch Four - The Cerveza Nightmare
Author's Note: I struggled and fought tooth-and-nail with this batch every step of the way. While most people would take that as a bad omen and quit while they're ahead, I'm not a superstitious person. Plus I'm an idiot. That said, I did learn two important techniques during this batch that have become a mainstay of my brewing; (a) yeast starters and (b) racking the beer to a secondary fermenter.
1 x 1.7kg Mangrove Jack's Mexican Cerveza (LME)
2.5kg NZ Pale Malt
1kg Flaked Maize
25g Southern Cross Hops (30 mins)
25g Southern Cross Hops (15 mins)
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 x Mangrove Jack's US West Coast Yeast (M44)
1 x Crappy 5g Yeast Sachet
10ml Clarity Fern
Made up a yeast starter last night using 3/4 cup of pale Dry Malt Extract and the yeast. It's my first time making one, so I hope I didn't screw it up too badly!
I'm super excited about this batch! It'll be my first time using (a) yeast starters, (b) the 30L stockpot and (c) more than one type of grain. I'm a little on the fence about whether or not to spike it with raw sugar. According to BeerSmith, with the amount of grain I'm using, it should come out at 5.4% (OG 1.055 - guess who finally learned how to read the hydrometer!). Raw sugar would bump it up to 6.8% (OG 1.066.)
With regard to the volatile nature of the Strontkop, it may be that the yeast hadn't stopped fermenting when I bottled it. As my hydrometer broke, I had no way of checking. I've got a better hydrometer now, so I'll make damn sure with this batch!
I've since learned that - as a general rule of thumb - the higher the alc/vol, the longer it should be left to ferment. I'm also giving some thought to getting a siphon and a bottling bucket, so I can decant it and remove some of the sediment before bottling.
---/---/---
Well, that was an ordeal. A lot of shit may potentially go wrong with this batch. And now I realise, having just added the yeast starter that I FORGOT to take a hydrometer sample! Although I thought it might be the solution to all my problems, the 30L stockpot is a gigantic pain in the arse to work with. For one thing, it takes bloody ages to heat. You really don't wat to know how long it takes to cool either.
Mashing/infusing the grain was a gigantic fucking nightmare! The strainer bag was very little help, so there goes $20 down the drain! Ironically, it was a lot easier last time when I strained a 15L stock pot into a bucket. Getting a stable temperature was damn near impossible too. There's a chance I may have bashed too low (in the low 60s), which is why the wort came out darker than I would have liked. Until I get a proper Mash Tun going, I'm just going to hold fire on brewing, because I'm sure as shit NOT doing it on a stove again! The actual boil itself went totally by the book, so nothing to report there. Once I tried to cool the wort, that's where the real problems begun...
After an hour (and three refills) in a cold water bath, I lost patience. I took everything out of my fridge, awkwardly crammed it in and left it for an hour. I should mention that somehow I still had about 20L of wort at the end of the boil with very little boiloff. For some reason, this makes me suspicious.
After an hour, I really lost patience and decided that a change of recepticle might help expediate the cooling process. So I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter... in my goddamn room. I topped it up with about 3 litres of cold water, aerated it, added Clarity Ferm, aerated some more and lugged it to Bill's car-hole. At this stage, I was beyond caring about things like 'ideal pitching temperatures', so I biffed the yeast starter in and sealed it up. True story.
All in all, I've got a bad feeling about this batch. A lot of shit went wrong, I got sloppy in a lot of places and I think I've learned a lot about how NOT to brew beer. Whatever this abomination turns out to be, it probably won't be Cerveza. Oddly enough - if it's drinkable - I may have Malt Liquor on my hands, which was next on my to-do list. And I STILL have to go to work in less than an hour! I can safely say this is the worst brewing day I've had so far...
1 x 1.7kg Mangrove Jack's Mexican Cerveza (LME)
2.5kg NZ Pale Malt
1kg Flaked Maize
25g Southern Cross Hops (30 mins)
25g Southern Cross Hops (15 mins)
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 x Mangrove Jack's US West Coast Yeast (M44)
1 x Crappy 5g Yeast Sachet
10ml Clarity Fern
Made up a yeast starter last night using 3/4 cup of pale Dry Malt Extract and the yeast. It's my first time making one, so I hope I didn't screw it up too badly!
I'm super excited about this batch! It'll be my first time using (a) yeast starters, (b) the 30L stockpot and (c) more than one type of grain. I'm a little on the fence about whether or not to spike it with raw sugar. According to BeerSmith, with the amount of grain I'm using, it should come out at 5.4% (OG 1.055 - guess who finally learned how to read the hydrometer!). Raw sugar would bump it up to 6.8% (OG 1.066.)
With regard to the volatile nature of the Strontkop, it may be that the yeast hadn't stopped fermenting when I bottled it. As my hydrometer broke, I had no way of checking. I've got a better hydrometer now, so I'll make damn sure with this batch!
I've since learned that - as a general rule of thumb - the higher the alc/vol, the longer it should be left to ferment. I'm also giving some thought to getting a siphon and a bottling bucket, so I can decant it and remove some of the sediment before bottling.
---/---/---
Well, that was an ordeal. A lot of shit may potentially go wrong with this batch. And now I realise, having just added the yeast starter that I FORGOT to take a hydrometer sample! Although I thought it might be the solution to all my problems, the 30L stockpot is a gigantic pain in the arse to work with. For one thing, it takes bloody ages to heat. You really don't wat to know how long it takes to cool either.
Mashing/infusing the grain was a gigantic fucking nightmare! The strainer bag was very little help, so there goes $20 down the drain! Ironically, it was a lot easier last time when I strained a 15L stock pot into a bucket. Getting a stable temperature was damn near impossible too. There's a chance I may have bashed too low (in the low 60s), which is why the wort came out darker than I would have liked. Until I get a proper Mash Tun going, I'm just going to hold fire on brewing, because I'm sure as shit NOT doing it on a stove again! The actual boil itself went totally by the book, so nothing to report there. Once I tried to cool the wort, that's where the real problems begun...
After an hour (and three refills) in a cold water bath, I lost patience. I took everything out of my fridge, awkwardly crammed it in and left it for an hour. I should mention that somehow I still had about 20L of wort at the end of the boil with very little boiloff. For some reason, this makes me suspicious.
After an hour, I really lost patience and decided that a change of recepticle might help expediate the cooling process. So I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter... in my goddamn room. I topped it up with about 3 litres of cold water, aerated it, added Clarity Ferm, aerated some more and lugged it to Bill's car-hole. At this stage, I was beyond caring about things like 'ideal pitching temperatures', so I biffed the yeast starter in and sealed it up. True story.
All in all, I've got a bad feeling about this batch. A lot of shit went wrong, I got sloppy in a lot of places and I think I've learned a lot about how NOT to brew beer. Whatever this abomination turns out to be, it probably won't be Cerveza. Oddly enough - if it's drinkable - I may have Malt Liquor on my hands, which was next on my to-do list. And I STILL have to go to work in less than an hour! I can safely say this is the worst brewing day I've had so far...
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Exploding Bottles: Prelude To The Cerveza Nightmare
Took a look at box #2 - the unrefrigerated Strontkop - this morning and the damndest thing... one of the bottles exploded! I don't know whether that's due to something I've done (or failed to do), but so much for the infalliability of carbonation drops! For the next batch, I'm going old-school and using sugar and a scoop. Well, that's what I told myself, but things turned out a little different. Stay tuned for the eventual Cerveza disaster and subsequent aftermath.
Speaking of the next batch, I stopped by the brewshop today and purchased some Mexican Cerveza LME, Southern Cross hops and Mangrove Jack's US West Coast yeast. It'll be interesting to see what kind of difference a yeast starter makes.
I also need to think of a better name for it than 'El Bandito.' That one's just really scraping the bottom of the barrel. I've got plenty of time to do that, as I'm not really able to brew anything until I move to the new flat, which is about a fortnight away, give or take. I should mention at this stage that the fancy pants mineral water I purchased didn't make a goddamn bit of difference to the taste or quality of the Strontkop. It's genuine Linwood tapwater from here on out!
Speaking of the next batch, I stopped by the brewshop today and purchased some Mexican Cerveza LME, Southern Cross hops and Mangrove Jack's US West Coast yeast. It'll be interesting to see what kind of difference a yeast starter makes.
I also need to think of a better name for it than 'El Bandito.' That one's just really scraping the bottom of the barrel. I've got plenty of time to do that, as I'm not really able to brew anything until I move to the new flat, which is about a fortnight away, give or take. I should mention at this stage that the fancy pants mineral water I purchased didn't make a goddamn bit of difference to the taste or quality of the Strontkop. It's genuine Linwood tapwater from here on out!
Friday, February 14, 2014
Jon Gets Bukkakked In Beer, Report At 11...
Been sampling the Strontkop for the last few days. While all is mostly well, I opened a couple of bottles tonight from the second box. All have been sitting in the box - no refrigeration - since bottling day. They were absolutely volcaning, pissing and spraying foam everywhere! Although there was always a bit of foam on the first pour from refrigerated bottles, nothing quite like that! Does refrigeration help with the carbonation process?
Perhaps I opened them a little too early. Ideally, one should wait a month (30 days) before opening, but I'm a thirsty Jon and you'lll have to forgive me for having a little pride in my first REAL beer.
Perhaps I opened them a little too early. Ideally, one should wait a month (30 days) before opening, but I'm a thirsty Jon and you'lll have to forgive me for having a little pride in my first REAL beer.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Drunk At Last, Hallelujah, Drunk At Last!
SUCCESS!! I may have 'accidentally' sampled some Strontkop a week early (impatience being the downfall of many a home brewer), but damned if it's not a success! Tastes damn good and - more importantly - contains booze!
I'm waiting on a 30L stockpot I've ordered to come. Today I purchased a new hydrometer and a cool 'wine thief' type thingamajig (for readings), sugar measures (which I've never goddamn USED!) and a big-ass strainer bag for when next I mash grain.I've still got to obtain a conical flash for yeast starters, but they're readily available on TradeMe. I'll get that glass carboy some day, but for now, it's not essential.
Anyway, back to the Strontkop! Because I opened it a little early, there was a difference in clarity between the first half and the second half of the bottle. Time being the clarifier of all beers, after all. Head was nice and frothy like you want. Hops - while 'there' - were a little subtle, so maybe I'll use 1oz (28g) additions next time instead of the 20g this run.
But damn if that Irish Moss don't work a trick... I'm fuckin' sold! No 'milkiness', residue, chunks or any of the other nasty shit to be found anywhere. While it's a recipe that shall be subject to refinement (as will they all be), it's a pretty damn good run for my first real beer. Third time lucky!
I'm waiting on a 30L stockpot I've ordered to come. Today I purchased a new hydrometer and a cool 'wine thief' type thingamajig (for readings), sugar measures (which I've never goddamn USED!) and a big-ass strainer bag for when next I mash grain.I've still got to obtain a conical flash for yeast starters, but they're readily available on TradeMe. I'll get that glass carboy some day, but for now, it's not essential.
Anyway, back to the Strontkop! Because I opened it a little early, there was a difference in clarity between the first half and the second half of the bottle. Time being the clarifier of all beers, after all. Head was nice and frothy like you want. Hops - while 'there' - were a little subtle, so maybe I'll use 1oz (28g) additions next time instead of the 20g this run.
But damn if that Irish Moss don't work a trick... I'm fuckin' sold! No 'milkiness', residue, chunks or any of the other nasty shit to be found anywhere. While it's a recipe that shall be subject to refinement (as will they all be), it's a pretty damn good run for my first real beer. Third time lucky!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Never Shake A Baby, Unless It's A Yeast-Baby!
I must confess at this stage - having never brewed cider before - that I don't have a lot of (which is to say any) experience with cider yeast.
It's the small hours of the morning and I'm giving my yeast baby a bit of a shake. While it seems to be producing CO2 and that yeasty smelll, there's no milky sediment like with the beer baby. I suppose cider wort (being essentially reconstituted apple juice n' shit) is different from beer wort. Who knows how different the cider yeast strain is to what I'm used to.
I should probably take Celia's advice and stop second-guessing all this shit. I had my doubts about the last one, and that ran a goddamn freight train through the Cerveza! Hopefully this one will do a similar job on the cider.
It's the small hours of the morning and I'm giving my yeast baby a bit of a shake. While it seems to be producing CO2 and that yeasty smelll, there's no milky sediment like with the beer baby. I suppose cider wort (being essentially reconstituted apple juice n' shit) is different from beer wort. Who knows how different the cider yeast strain is to what I'm used to.
I should probably take Celia's advice and stop second-guessing all this shit. I had my doubts about the last one, and that ran a goddamn freight train through the Cerveza! Hopefully this one will do a similar job on the cider.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Jon Forgets To Ventilate, Hilarity Does Not Ensue.
Got drunk a couple of nights ago - a sixer of Founders' 1981 APA - and I swear to god, my palette has awakened! I could taste the hops, the barley and the malt undercurrents and all the constituents. I've officially leveled up into a bonafide beer snob!
Nevertheless, the Strontkop fermentation process has led to some very interesting discoveries, namely that there's a good reason most home brewers DON'T keep fermenting beer where they sleep! For one thing, over the last day or so, the yeast has been going apeshit, spewing CO2 and making the airlock sound like a machine-gun with the bubbling.
As I neglected to ensure adequate ventilation, I was soon feeling the worst of it. After one bottle of pee-water Erstebrauen, I was ready for a nap. However, when I cracked open the door and let the air circulate, I was full of piss and vinegar again.
Later on, I found myself unable to sleep with the machine-gunning from the airlock. I tried to crash on the couch inside, but it was too uncomfortable. I took a couple of Clonazepam, thought "fuck it!" and went back to my room to crash.I awoke around lunchtime (my usual) to find that the airlock was no longer machine-gunning, but had settled into a slow, lazy occasional belch. And the moral of the story is...
NEVER FERMENT WHERE YOU SLEEP!!!
Obviously I don't have a lot of options at the moment, but once I'm in the new house, the car-hole will become the fermentation station.
On the subject of the Erstebrauen, it tastes nowhere as nice as I remember, with a lifeless, brackish taste. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by sniffing Strontkop fumes. It's still better than Double-Brown , but it's no longer cutting mustard with yours truly. Liam volunteered to take the rest, so he can have it! I fucked up the Lilphynott slightly less, so we'll see how that goes in a week or so.
Nevertheless, the Strontkop fermentation process has led to some very interesting discoveries, namely that there's a good reason most home brewers DON'T keep fermenting beer where they sleep! For one thing, over the last day or so, the yeast has been going apeshit, spewing CO2 and making the airlock sound like a machine-gun with the bubbling.
As I neglected to ensure adequate ventilation, I was soon feeling the worst of it. After one bottle of pee-water Erstebrauen, I was ready for a nap. However, when I cracked open the door and let the air circulate, I was full of piss and vinegar again.
Later on, I found myself unable to sleep with the machine-gunning from the airlock. I tried to crash on the couch inside, but it was too uncomfortable. I took a couple of Clonazepam, thought "fuck it!" and went back to my room to crash.I awoke around lunchtime (my usual) to find that the airlock was no longer machine-gunning, but had settled into a slow, lazy occasional belch. And the moral of the story is...
NEVER FERMENT WHERE YOU SLEEP!!!
Obviously I don't have a lot of options at the moment, but once I'm in the new house, the car-hole will become the fermentation station.
On the subject of the Erstebrauen, it tastes nowhere as nice as I remember, with a lifeless, brackish taste. Perhaps I've just been spoiled by sniffing Strontkop fumes. It's still better than Double-Brown , but it's no longer cutting mustard with yours truly. Liam volunteered to take the rest, so he can have it! I fucked up the Lilphynott slightly less, so we'll see how that goes in a week or so.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Batch Three - A Dutch Too Much
Author's Note: This beer - Strontkop Dutch Lager - was my first real beer, by which I mean not only containing grains, but containing booze! Although it was far from perfect, I still get a little nostalgic about it. One of the more important things I did with this brew (that made it work) is shell out a few bucks for some proper yeast, instead of just using the almost worthless 5g sachets that come underneath the lids of Liquid Malt Extract cans.
1 x 1.7kg can of Mangrove Jack's Dutch Lager (LME)
2kg of Pilsner Barley
500g Raw Sugar
20g Wakatu Hops (60 min)
20g Wakatu Hops (15 min)
20g Wakatu Hops (0 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 x Mangrove Jack's Bohemian Lager Yeast (M84)
1 x Shitty 5g Yeast Pack
23L Fancy-pants Spring Water
First 'real' brew and damn, what a process! After cleaning, sterilizing and organising, I filled the stopckpot to about 3/4 with water and turned up the heat. I put the 2kg of Pilsner Barley in around 55C or so, but started the timer proper around 65C and did the old steep-n-stir for 30 minutes.
When the time was up, I poured everything through a sieve into a sterilized bucket, rinsed the solids with warm water, repeated and then separated liquids from solids (into the bucket and a plastic bag respectively). When it was done, I had nearly a whole bucket full of delicious barley runoff. After giving the stockput a bit of a clean out, I poured the runoff back into and I was good to go.
With the mash back in the pot, I added the Malt Extract and - while twirling my mustache evilly - the bag of raw sugar. I cranked the heat and once it hit 100C proper, I started the timer for 60 minutes, making the appropriate hop additions along the way.
My first brew with hops and damned if it didn't smell hoppy! After cooling the wort to 22C, I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter. Once the fermenter was in a secondary location, I added both packets (the M84 and the shitty 5g) of yeast, jiggled it back and forth then sealed it up.
All in all, I'm pretty confident about this batch. For one thing, I feel like I know what the hell I'm doing. Sort of. The pre-fermentation sample I took is a very clear yellow, like a healthy urine stream. The hops are smelling very aromatic too and I'm hoping they'll mellow a bit before it settles.
1 x 1.7kg can of Mangrove Jack's Dutch Lager (LME)
2kg of Pilsner Barley
500g Raw Sugar
20g Wakatu Hops (60 min)
20g Wakatu Hops (15 min)
20g Wakatu Hops (0 min)
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 x Mangrove Jack's Bohemian Lager Yeast (M84)
1 x Shitty 5g Yeast Pack
23L Fancy-pants Spring Water
First 'real' brew and damn, what a process! After cleaning, sterilizing and organising, I filled the stopckpot to about 3/4 with water and turned up the heat. I put the 2kg of Pilsner Barley in around 55C or so, but started the timer proper around 65C and did the old steep-n-stir for 30 minutes.
When the time was up, I poured everything through a sieve into a sterilized bucket, rinsed the solids with warm water, repeated and then separated liquids from solids (into the bucket and a plastic bag respectively). When it was done, I had nearly a whole bucket full of delicious barley runoff. After giving the stockput a bit of a clean out, I poured the runoff back into and I was good to go.
With the mash back in the pot, I added the Malt Extract and - while twirling my mustache evilly - the bag of raw sugar. I cranked the heat and once it hit 100C proper, I started the timer for 60 minutes, making the appropriate hop additions along the way.
My first brew with hops and damned if it didn't smell hoppy! After cooling the wort to 22C, I poured it through a sieve into the fermenter. Once the fermenter was in a secondary location, I added both packets (the M84 and the shitty 5g) of yeast, jiggled it back and forth then sealed it up.
All in all, I'm pretty confident about this batch. For one thing, I feel like I know what the hell I'm doing. Sort of. The pre-fermentation sample I took is a very clear yellow, like a healthy urine stream. The hops are smelling very aromatic too and I'm hoping they'll mellow a bit before it settles.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Jon FINALLY Learns How To Bottle Beer!
Bottled the Lilphynott Stout this afternoon. Although it looked much better (and smelled a lot like Monteith's Black) than the last, I just hope it's actually got some alcohol in it this time!Bottling went a lot smoother than last time, perhaps because I (a) knew what to expect, (b) did it in the kitchen and (c) had a bucket to catch the runoff. The bottling attachment was playing up a little, so I may have to purchase a new one.
For some reason, I only got 27 bottles (24 glass, 3 plastic) this time, as opposed to the 30 one would expect from a 23 litre brew. Never to mind.
For some reason, I only got 27 bottles (24 glass, 3 plastic) this time, as opposed to the 30 one would expect from a 23 litre brew. Never to mind.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Finings N' Shit
Added beer finings to 125ml of lukewarm water and mixed into Stout. Should be ready for bottling in two days. Brainwave: If I used less water (topped it up to 20L instead of 23), would it be more concentrated? Would it even taste good? (Author's note: to answer my own question, yes and kinda, but for all intents and purposes, it's easier just to bump up the grain bill on the front end. Needless to say at this stage in the game, I was quite a ways from knowing what a 'grain bill' was or why the hell I should care.)
I don't know exactly what I want to do for the next brew, but I'd like to give the all-grain (by which I meant partial mash!) a go. Some stuff I'll need to get...
- Thermomater
- Strainer
- Big-ass soup pot
At this stage, I'd settled on naming my Irish Stout 'Lilphynott.' As if you can't tell, it's an Gaelic-sounding spoonerism of "Phil Lynott', who was without a doubt the finest Black Irishman to ever sing and play bass in a late-seventies to early eighties hard rock band. If anyone deserves a Stout named after him, it's Phil Lynott.
I don't know exactly what I want to do for the next brew, but I'd like to give the all-grain (by which I meant partial mash!) a go. Some stuff I'll need to get...
- Thermomater
- Strainer
- Big-ass soup pot
At this stage, I'd settled on naming my Irish Stout 'Lilphynott.' As if you can't tell, it's an Gaelic-sounding spoonerism of "Phil Lynott', who was without a doubt the finest Black Irishman to ever sing and play bass in a late-seventies to early eighties hard rock band. If anyone deserves a Stout named after him, it's Phil Lynott.
Friday, January 17, 2014
For The Love Of All Things Irish
Post-Fermentation Hydrometer: 2.6 (What the actual fuck?)
Don't know what's going on,but I'm getting some wacky hydrometer readings with the Irish Stout (no kidding!!)... alc/vol calculator tells me it's 200%! Nevertheless, it's early days yet and thusfar, it looks and smells like Irish Stout. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. I'll be giving some Erstebrauen to people at work tonight, so hopefully it doesn't give them all violent diarrhea. Although it'd be funny if it did. =)
From the smell alone, I'm picking up a bit of a Linwood tapwater odour from the Lilphynott. It may be too late for the stout, but I'll buy some fancy-pants springwater for whatever I brew next. If it makes a difference, it's distilled water from here on out (Author's note: thank god I didn't do this! Distilled water lacks the minerals and whatnot needed for beer production.). If it's not the water, then I'm doing something else wrong and I'm all out of ideas.
Later that evening...
For some reason, Liam really seemed to like the Erstebrauen. Of course he did... it was free! Nevertheless, I made him promise to give me some honest feedback, so we'll see how he goes with that. It wouldn't hurt to give it to a few more people, just to see what they think. Incidentally, I hope there's some more money from Dad forthcoming, because this ain't a cheap hobby! I'm still collecting odds and sods as I go, so I suppose it'll even out once I've got the major bits and pieces. Once the glass bottles come out, I'll be a real ogre about wanting them back!
Don't know what's going on,but I'm getting some wacky hydrometer readings with the Irish Stout (no kidding!!)... alc/vol calculator tells me it's 200%! Nevertheless, it's early days yet and thusfar, it looks and smells like Irish Stout. Nothing out of the ordinary to report. I'll be giving some Erstebrauen to people at work tonight, so hopefully it doesn't give them all violent diarrhea. Although it'd be funny if it did. =)
From the smell alone, I'm picking up a bit of a Linwood tapwater odour from the Lilphynott. It may be too late for the stout, but I'll buy some fancy-pants springwater for whatever I brew next. If it makes a difference, it's distilled water from here on out (Author's note: thank god I didn't do this! Distilled water lacks the minerals and whatnot needed for beer production.). If it's not the water, then I'm doing something else wrong and I'm all out of ideas.
Later that evening...
For some reason, Liam really seemed to like the Erstebrauen. Of course he did... it was free! Nevertheless, I made him promise to give me some honest feedback, so we'll see how he goes with that. It wouldn't hurt to give it to a few more people, just to see what they think. Incidentally, I hope there's some more money from Dad forthcoming, because this ain't a cheap hobby! I'm still collecting odds and sods as I go, so I suppose it'll even out once I've got the major bits and pieces. Once the glass bottles come out, I'll be a real ogre about wanting them back!
Thursday, January 16, 2014
First thoughts and observations on the Erstebrauen
Yesterday - because I was impatient, thirsty and had the day off - I decided to crack open the Erstebrauen three days early. All in all, it's not too damn bad and dare I say, pretty solid for a first attempt! Here's a few thoughts and observations...
- Tastes very organic, free of the overly processed or urine-like qualities of cheap domestic swill =)
- Some bottles were still a little cloudy, but all in all, cleared up very well, changing from a diarrhea-brown upon first bottling to a rich golden colour.
- For the want of a better term, tastes very Germanic. Slight hints of ginger and honey.
- While carbonation levels were adequate, they were less than I would have liked. Not sure what the deal is or how it bodes for the Irish Stout, but for now, I'll follow the brewshop guy's advice and stick to 1 and a 1/2 drops per bottle.
- Can *slightly* taste the Linwood tapwater. This is a feature, not a bug!
- Seems to like being refrigerated. Put most of the first box (15 bottles) in the fridge. The remainder sits in the box at room temperature.
Author's note: I couldn't really tell it at the time, but my first batch had come out really, really low in alcohol. Congratulations, Jon... you've learned how to make carbonated pee-water!
- Tastes very organic, free of the overly processed or urine-like qualities of cheap domestic swill =)
- Some bottles were still a little cloudy, but all in all, cleared up very well, changing from a diarrhea-brown upon first bottling to a rich golden colour.
- For the want of a better term, tastes very Germanic. Slight hints of ginger and honey.
- While carbonation levels were adequate, they were less than I would have liked. Not sure what the deal is or how it bodes for the Irish Stout, but for now, I'll follow the brewshop guy's advice and stick to 1 and a 1/2 drops per bottle.
- Can *slightly* taste the Linwood tapwater. This is a feature, not a bug!
- Seems to like being refrigerated. Put most of the first box (15 bottles) in the fridge. The remainder sits in the box at room temperature.
Author's note: I couldn't really tell it at the time, but my first batch had come out really, really low in alcohol. Congratulations, Jon... you've learned how to make carbonated pee-water!
Friday, January 10, 2014
All Quiet On The Western Front...
White sediment (possibly remnants of carbonation drops) that had congealed in the bottom of the Erstebrauen bottles have more or less dissipated and been absorbed back into the beer. Brew is clearing admirably. Only eight days to go!
11/01/14
Nothing much to report. Irish stout has slowed its bubbling, only letting off a belch every now and then. Rotation of the Erstebrauen continues as per usual.
11/01/14
Nothing much to report. Irish stout has slowed its bubbling, only letting off a belch every now and then. Rotation of the Erstebrauen continues as per usual.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Bubble, Bubble, Toil N' Trouble...
Morning:
Brew bubbled magnificently through the night, perhaps a little better than the last batch. It was a pain in the ass to sleep through, but such is the price of a good brew.
Evening:
Brew is bubbling nicely at a steady 22C (the magic number!). Easy enough in summer, but once it gets colder, I may have to invest in a heat pad. Izzy wouldn't take too kindly to me nicking hers!
Rotating the Munich Lager (Erstebrauen) a couple of times a day. Some bottles are clearing up faster than others, but on the whole, it looks a lot less muddy than it did when I first bottled it. Only nine days before I get to crack those bad boys and enjoy the fruits of my labours!
N.B. for next time: Liquorice stick needs more time and maybe more water to dissolve. Maybe smash it to little pieces with a blunt object.
Brew bubbled magnificently through the night, perhaps a little better than the last batch. It was a pain in the ass to sleep through, but such is the price of a good brew.
Evening:
Brew is bubbling nicely at a steady 22C (the magic number!). Easy enough in summer, but once it gets colder, I may have to invest in a heat pad. Izzy wouldn't take too kindly to me nicking hers!
Rotating the Munich Lager (Erstebrauen) a couple of times a day. Some bottles are clearing up faster than others, but on the whole, it looks a lot less muddy than it did when I first bottled it. Only nine days before I get to crack those bad boys and enjoy the fruits of my labours!
N.B. for next time: Liquorice stick needs more time and maybe more water to dissolve. Maybe smash it to little pieces with a blunt object.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Second Batch - Irish Stout (Lilphynott)
Author's note: At the time, I took the Hydrometer reading to read 3.6, whatever the hell that means. Is it any surprise that eventually, I looked up "How do use Hydrometer" on YouTube?
Pre-fermentation Hydrometer: 3.6
Well, that could have ended badly! After cleaning and sanitising, I added 3 litres of hot water to a pot I assumed (assumptions being the mother of all fuck-ups) would be big enough. Not quite! I got a bit of boilover, but hopefully nothing too damaging. Bill helped me to transfer it to a 15L stockpot, which I'll be using henceforth.
I should mention that this was my first half-assed stab at trying to do a proper boil-up, the way beer should be brewed. It wasn't exactly a raging success, but it was a step in the right direction.
The extra ingredient here is half a bar of liquorice, which I attempted to dissolve in boiling water, then the wort. I had the wort on the stove for a good 15-20 minutes, but got a good 10 minutes proper boil, which should hopefully be enough to kill any nasties.
I then transferred the wort to the fermenter, topped it up gradually to 23 litres, mixed it like buggery, then lugged it to my room. Once in my room, I sprinkled on the yeast and sealed it up, not to be opened until the 22nd.
I'm hoping nothing in the boilover chaos will come back to haunt me, but all in all, a little more 'by the book' than last time! At least I took a pre-fermentation hydrometer read this time around (for all the bloody good it did!).
I've got a feeling it'll (hopefully) come out blacker than the cover of Smell The Glove and I think it deserves the glass bottle treatment when the time comes. None of this Mr. Renfrew's Pub Pets plastic bottle shit!* The important thing is I learned from the mistakes I made last time. Next time, I'll learn from the mistakes I made this time!
* Pro tip: Although perfectly fine for your very first 'do I even want to do this?' batch, plastic bottles are some raggeddy hobo shit. You might as well distribute them with a brown paper bag. That said, they have their uses. For instance, I have a friend/sampling gineau pig who failed to return the last lot of 750ml Grolsch-style flip-top bottles I gave him. He's abused his priveleges, so it's hobo bottles for him until that trust can be rebuilt.
Pre-fermentation Hydrometer: 3.6
Well, that could have ended badly! After cleaning and sanitising, I added 3 litres of hot water to a pot I assumed (assumptions being the mother of all fuck-ups) would be big enough. Not quite! I got a bit of boilover, but hopefully nothing too damaging. Bill helped me to transfer it to a 15L stockpot, which I'll be using henceforth.
I should mention that this was my first half-assed stab at trying to do a proper boil-up, the way beer should be brewed. It wasn't exactly a raging success, but it was a step in the right direction.
The extra ingredient here is half a bar of liquorice, which I attempted to dissolve in boiling water, then the wort. I had the wort on the stove for a good 15-20 minutes, but got a good 10 minutes proper boil, which should hopefully be enough to kill any nasties.
I then transferred the wort to the fermenter, topped it up gradually to 23 litres, mixed it like buggery, then lugged it to my room. Once in my room, I sprinkled on the yeast and sealed it up, not to be opened until the 22nd.
I'm hoping nothing in the boilover chaos will come back to haunt me, but all in all, a little more 'by the book' than last time! At least I took a pre-fermentation hydrometer read this time around (for all the bloody good it did!).
I've got a feeling it'll (hopefully) come out blacker than the cover of Smell The Glove and I think it deserves the glass bottle treatment when the time comes. None of this Mr. Renfrew's Pub Pets plastic bottle shit!* The important thing is I learned from the mistakes I made last time. Next time, I'll learn from the mistakes I made this time!
* Pro tip: Although perfectly fine for your very first 'do I even want to do this?' batch, plastic bottles are some raggeddy hobo shit. You might as well distribute them with a brown paper bag. That said, they have their uses. For instance, I have a friend/sampling gineau pig who failed to return the last lot of 750ml Grolsch-style flip-top bottles I gave him. He's abused his priveleges, so it's hobo bottles for him until that trust can be rebuilt.
Monday, January 6, 2014
First Brew - Erstebrauen is Born!
Rotating the bottles this morning and something definitely appears to have dissolved... maybe the remnants of carbonation drops. Darkish in colour.
Author's Note: At this point, I decided that "Erstebrauen" would be a good name for my first brew, after mangling a few words in Google Translate and trying to get something German-sounding. It was either that or "Die Diarrhea Draught." In hindsight, I should have gone with the latter.
Author's Note: At this point, I decided that "Erstebrauen" would be a good name for my first brew, after mangling a few words in Google Translate and trying to get something German-sounding. It was either that or "Die Diarrhea Draught." In hindsight, I should have gone with the latter.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
First Brew - Under Pressure (A Totally Different Bassline From "Ice Ice Baby")
Although I'm still a little concerned about the 'muddy' colour, it's still my first brew, so I'm not expecting perfection. The "Dave Mustaine" (angry, volatile, red-headed stepchild) bottle was a casualty yesterday. I got concerned about the pressure, so I opened it and it jizzed all over me!
The other bottles feel nice and pressurised, so I'm hoping they don't turn volcanic either. It'll be interesting just to gauge carbonation levels for future brews. While they're sitting there for 2 weeks, I'll rotate them twice daily, just to stop anything from settling. Although they'll be ready on the 18th, I'll keep a few in reserve, just to see what a difference aging makes.
In general, I'm going to be more meticulous henceforth. For one, a Hydrometer Reading before fermentation It might also be a good idea to record the temperature twice a day. Maybe a heatpad would be a good investment? This brew was a little fast and loose, but what the hell. You've got to start somewhere.
Author's note: At this stage, I was rotating the bottles, desperately hoping to get rid of any sediment. Nuh uh, dawg... don't work that way! Later on, I'd discover the joys of racking beer to secondary vessels (and leaving sediment behind), but that was a ways off yet.
The other bottles feel nice and pressurised, so I'm hoping they don't turn volcanic either. It'll be interesting just to gauge carbonation levels for future brews. While they're sitting there for 2 weeks, I'll rotate them twice daily, just to stop anything from settling. Although they'll be ready on the 18th, I'll keep a few in reserve, just to see what a difference aging makes.
In general, I'm going to be more meticulous henceforth. For one, a Hydrometer Reading before fermentation It might also be a good idea to record the temperature twice a day. Maybe a heatpad would be a good investment? This brew was a little fast and loose, but what the hell. You've got to start somewhere.
Author's note: At this stage, I was rotating the bottles, desperately hoping to get rid of any sediment. Nuh uh, dawg... don't work that way! Later on, I'd discover the joys of racking beer to secondary vessels (and leaving sediment behind), but that was a ways off yet.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
First Brew - 99 Bottles Of Beer On The Wall, 99 Bottles Of Beer...
Author's preface: My first bottling run was not a fun endeavour. I didn't know what the hell I was doing, how far to fill the bottles and worst of all, the bottling attachment that came with my starter kit was of inferior quality. I spilled a good couple of pints on the speaker cone of my Bass Amp, let me tell you that much.
The beer has finally been bottled and thank god that's over! I learned a few things this run. First of all, net time it would pay to do the bottling over the sink instead of atop my bass amp! I got a little splash damage (just a little?) on the speaker cone, but if it ends up smelling like beer, it's not the worst thing to happen.
Speaking of smell, the beer smells delicious! Maybe its something in the finings (probably not!), but it has taken on an almost ginger beery aroma. At this stage, it's got a colour that resembles liquefaction, but you can't have everything.
Anywho, the washing and sterilizing was a pain in the arse. There's got to be a better way! Although I'm sure it would be harmless, I didn't really trust the 'no rinse' claims of the sterilizer, so I rinsed away the leftover foam.
Here's the weird thing; after filling 30 bottles (and spilling a bit on the amp!), I still had about 800ml of beer and some carbonation drops. I hope I didn't add too much water and I was damn sure I put 2 drops to every bottle. Nevertheless, I filled the remaining brew to a sterilized Coke bottle and - just for shits and giggles - gave it a double dose of carbonation drops. KABOOM!!!
The beer has finally been bottled and thank god that's over! I learned a few things this run. First of all, net time it would pay to do the bottling over the sink instead of atop my bass amp! I got a little splash damage (just a little?) on the speaker cone, but if it ends up smelling like beer, it's not the worst thing to happen.
Speaking of smell, the beer smells delicious! Maybe its something in the finings (probably not!), but it has taken on an almost ginger beery aroma. At this stage, it's got a colour that resembles liquefaction, but you can't have everything.
Anywho, the washing and sterilizing was a pain in the arse. There's got to be a better way! Although I'm sure it would be harmless, I didn't really trust the 'no rinse' claims of the sterilizer, so I rinsed away the leftover foam.
Here's the weird thing; after filling 30 bottles (and spilling a bit on the amp!), I still had about 800ml of beer and some carbonation drops. I hope I didn't add too much water and I was damn sure I put 2 drops to every bottle. Nevertheless, I filled the remaining brew to a sterilized Coke bottle and - just for shits and giggles - gave it a double dose of carbonation drops. KABOOM!!!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
First Brew - Unsuccessfully coping with Hydrometers
Hooray, hooray... brew has settled! Well, more or less. I'm playing a little fast and loose with Hydrometer Readings (Author's Note: No shit!), but goddamnit, it's close enough for me! Dissolved beer finings* in a half-cup of lukewarm water, then stirred into brew. In 48 hours it should hopefully be ready for brewing.
* Pro-tip: Beer finings are a goddamn waste of $2. Later I was to discover the two-pronged approach of (a) Irish Moss and (b) racking the beer from a primary fermenter to a secondary vessel, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I didn't know any of that shit then and in the grand scheme of things, I don't really know shit now. But back to the brew log...
At this stage, I realise that it would be good to have (a) a better Hydrometer (or learn how to use the one you've got?), (b) a digital thermometer and (c) a longer brewing spoon. If there is such a thing as a digital hydrometer (there isn't!), it would behoove me to get one.
* Pro-tip: Beer finings are a goddamn waste of $2. Later I was to discover the two-pronged approach of (a) Irish Moss and (b) racking the beer from a primary fermenter to a secondary vessel, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I didn't know any of that shit then and in the grand scheme of things, I don't really know shit now. But back to the brew log...
At this stage, I realise that it would be good to have (a) a better Hydrometer (or learn how to use the one you've got?), (b) a digital thermometer and (c) a longer brewing spoon. If there is such a thing as a digital hydrometer (there isn't!), it would behoove me to get one.
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