Fermentation Friday: Crazy Concoctions

CNYBrew is hosting this months Fermentation Friday.

"What is the craziest concoction you ever came up with, on the fly or prepped, to brew with."

I'll take the medley approach to this one. Mostly its about things gone wrong.

The barley wine that blew the fermentation lid off was fun :-) Can you say vigorous fermentation? I still have the mark on the basement ceiling from that one. My son often refers to it. "Dad, that's from your beer isn't it?" He says knowingly. [accidental]

Ah yes, my second brew, how do you crack these steeping grains again? Nice unexpected little treat. A rolling pin and 30 minutes later I'm wishing I had it done at the local homebrew store. [improvising]

Third batch since my hiatus from brewing ended. Didn't quite get back in the saddle. Malt...check, hops...check, yeast...check, steeping grains...check and commence the boil. Ok, the water is heated up for the steeping grains. Uh oh I don't have anything to steep them in. What could I use? Panty hose! BTW this is the first time I told anybody. Don't worry they were sterilized with boiling water ;-) The beer tasted fine. [improvising]

Then there was this time when I created a kitchen sink beer. What would it be like to just throw stuff in a pot? Several year old can of pre hopped dry stout malt, some coffee beans, fresh espresso, molases, dry malt extract, liquid malt extract, mismash of left over hops pellets. Franken porter....it lives! Well I guess it does. I mean it is still sitting in a keg in my basement and well just never really fermented out. I'm kind of scared to check it again. I often have dreams of saving it. Lightening, electrodes, Egor, maniacal laughter and local villagers with pitchforks... Anyway, there's some high gravity yeast with its name on it. [on the fly, gone wrong]

You know, now that I think of it, there's a little craziness in every beer I brew. I usually just grab the ingredients I have. Thumb through or click through recipes, refer to BJCP and kinda wing it. Its never really "in style". Something inevitably goes awry and I just ride it out. Eh...its only beer. Travis I hope this is the kinda thing you were looking for :-) Thanks for hosting this month.

Prost!

A Kölsch Köbe's worst nightmare...

As you know I'm trying to stock pile beer to share at various picnics. I think I'm almost caught up. One more batch and then I'll be burned out ;-)

Last night I brewed a beer that I'd like to call A Köbe's Kölsch Nightmare. Only because I'm sure nobody from Cologne would think it was a Kölsch. Hey I'm using Kölsch yeast and a Pilsner liquid malt extract with Hallertau hops. I'm also trying to keep the fermentation temp between 60 and 65 °F.

So why is it not really a Kolsch? Well I didn't use soft water, the LME will be a bit too dark, I also added some caramel malt which doesn't fit the flavor or color profile and Cascade hops were used for bittering. Egads! Who cares. We'll see if people like it.

Prost!

Sampler: Fermentation Friday, Brewvana, H.G. Wheat...

Sampler as in a little taste of each topic:

Brew bloggers don't forget CNYBrew is hosting this months Fermentation Friday. I'll try to post my story later today. If you have questions about this month's theme. Let Travis know with a comment to his post.

"What is the craziest concoction you ever came up with, on the fly or prepped, to brew with."

Next, check out Brewvana's last few posts. This is why I read Wilson's blog.

Last but not least, I took a specific gravity reading of each H.G. Wheat batch. The fermentation appears to be close to complete :-) How do they taste? Despite the Kolsch yeast still in suspension leaving that bitter yeast bite after taste...I'd say these are gonna be damn good! I wonder what my Grandfather would have thought.

One more thing, the first five gallon keg of the Little Belgian Bastard[ized] Ale, aka Firefly Lights, has been kicked. The second keg is in the fridge now being carbonated. I have to say I'm impressed with how well this less than four percent beer has been received by friends and family. Makes me proud, it does.

Prost!

George Carlin Dead of Heart Failure

George Carlin was a great Frisbeetarian.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25322638/&GT1=43001

Here's to you George!

Fermentation Friday is THIS FRIDAY!

CNYBrew is hosting this month. The theme is...

"What is the craziest concoction you ever came up with, on the fly or prepped, to brew with?"

I'll have to post mine early 'cause I'm tied up Friday night. Hope to see your contribution.

Prost!

Quick updates...

As the 4th of July approaches I feel prepared with my H.G. Wheat. Five gallons in the secondary five gallons in the primary ready to be moved. I even have five gallons of the Firefly Lights conditioning now.

So what's next? Either another beer using the yeast from the H.G. Wheat or a root beer. Never made root beer before, but, that never stopped me before ;-)

Cheers!

The Summer Solstice is upon us...

Ahhh...the first day of summer.

Cheers!

Reusing Yeast Article @ Beer Dorks

Great advice on reusing yeast. I've used similar techniques and had great results. I really like the way they write this in layman's terms.

http://beerdorks.com/articles.php?article_id=78

Prost!

H.G. Wheat Deux is fermenting...

After putting the first batch of H.G. Wheat through the primary fermentation I tasted it. It tasted good! Whew...I was a bit nervous. Sure its a bit sweet due to the yet to be fermented sugars, however, it seems like the 2.5 oz of home grown Cascade was good enough for bittering and flavoring. I racked it into a cornie keg fitted with an airlock for secondary fermentation. What does all this mean? Since the recipe for the first one worked out, its time to brew the second batch. This time I did substitute some DME for most of the LME. Should make it a bit drier. Also, I had just enough homegrown hops for the recipe. Ahhh...I love it when a plan comes together.

Next on the list. Dunno. Maybe I'll make another version of this with Cascade pellet hops instead of the home grown whole leaf Cascade. That would also enable me to get another generation out of this Kolsch yeast instead of buying more.

Can't wait until the family tastes this beer at the 4th of July reunion/picnic :-)

Prost!

Announcement: June's Fermentation Friday @ CNYBrew

Are you a homebrew blogger? Do you want to be a homebrew blogger? Well this event is for you. (ok enough of the car salesman voice) The theme for June is...

"What is the craziest concoction you ever came up with, on the fly or prepped, to brew with."

Travis @ CNYBrew is hosting this month's Fermentation Friday on June 27th. That gives us just about 10 days to come up with something.

Cheers!

Hops Progress: New Growth

Taken last week. The Cascade on the gate are going crazy. You can see the new growth. Not sure if they are flowers or just new shoots. Always learning :-)

Father's Day @ Victory with the Family...

Does it get any better than this? :-) Each of my three children drew me something for Father's Day on the back of their kids menu.

Note: Free WiFi at the Victory Brewing restaurant enabled me to post these from my EeePC with built in webcam.

Five gallons of homebrew on the road...

A guy weekend is in order. Getting together with a friend from way back. Its a gearhead weekend in Blacksburg VA. I'm taking that Belgian Mild Firefly Lights with me. Half of the 11 gal. anyway.

Meanwhile the H.G. Wheat (home grown wheat) is brewing in my temp controlled fridge/fermentation chamber. (Anybody ever marvel at the fact that we get yeast to can make alcohol?) I'll taste it after the primary fermentation and make adjustments if necessary before brewing H.G. Wheat # two. Ahhh...conscripted microorganisms.

Hey don't forget CNYBrew will be hosting the next Fermentation Friday. Look for an announcement at his site.

Cheers!

Brewed a batch of beer with 100% homegrown hops...

In preparation for the 4th of July holiday I brewed a test batch with 100% homegrown Cascade hops from last years harvest. I'm hoping to impress the family with good beer and fulfill my dream of brewing beer for this picnic like my Grandfather did. Of course saying I grew the hops that I used gives me great personal satisfaction. Anyway, I say "test batch", because you just never know how homegrown hops is going to pan out. The alpha acid content is not something I can easily measure and they're like 8 months old (vacume packed and refrigerated). So we'll see how it goes. If it doesn't work out, I'll have to make adjustments. I probably have enough for one more batch.

This is not my first foray into brewing with my homegrown Cascade whole leaf hops. I've experimented during the bittering, flavoring, finishing and dry hopping phases of the process, but, never more than one phase at a time. Originally I thought dry hopping would be the way to go. You know, small supply of homegrown hops rationed to make certain batches "extra special". It turns out flavoring is my favorite way to use these hops. Dry hopping and finishing didn't produce anything that "special". Bittering worked, but the whole leaf hop flowers acted like little sponges leaving more wort in the kettle. Flavoring added a fresh hop taste and I think brought out the best in these hops. Of course all this is a work in progress and I probably think I know them better than I really do. We'll see how this one turns out. I used the hops for bittering and late flavoring bordering on finishing.

Ah the things I do to say stuff like, "Yeah, I brewed it with 100% homegrown hops from my backyard." Now if I could just grow a field of barley ;-)

Edit: The name of this batch is H.G. Wheat as in Home Grown Wheat.

Cheers!

What type of beer is this?

I was preparing to post impressions of the most recent brew when I suddenly couldn't come up with an accurate beer type/category. This is what I get for just picking from the ingredients I have lying around. It tastes like a Belgian, but, it isn't necessarily something I can fit into a certain style category. I have some guesses, but, what category would you put it in?

What style of beer is this? Maybe the BJCP style index will help.

BTW the name will be Firefly Lights in honor of my most recent night vision. Oh..I almost forgot. I do like the way it tastes. I had a bit too much for the secondaries (kegs) so I carbonated some in sa 2 liter bottle with The Carbonator. Very nice indeed. And to think I didn't even know what style I was brewing. This is further proof that Belgian yeast is magical ;-)

Cheers!

Note: Recipe exported from Beer Smith.

Posthumous Post: Homebrew Blogging Day Results

The raw results of the poll where we picked a new name for Homebrew Blogging Day :-)

Homebrew Hullabaloo 2 (6%)
Homebrew Hangout 2 (6%)
Fermentation Friday 10 (33%)
Worts Cooking? 6 (20%)
The Starter 0 (0%)
The Boil 0 (0%)
The Mash 4 (13%)
The Hot Break 2 (6%)
The Mash Out 3 (10%)
Tales from the Brew Kettle 7 (23%)
Mash 'n' Meaderings 1 (3%)
Kettle Talk 3 (10%)
The Boil Over 3 (10%)
None of the Above

Homebrew Blogging Day is now Fermentation Friday

The decision has been made after much deliberation or rather waiting for votes, not to mention soul searching and flipping coins. The last Friday of almost every month will henceforth be known as...

Fermentation Friday

Thank you for all your votes. I'm very happy with this choice. It's got a nice ring to it. (not too tinny) Which is good otherwise I'd have to explain why I threw the winner out and chose my own. Whew, I'm happy that's over. What's next? A graphic, an icon, a picture, an image ahhh yes a logo. Where did I put my logo maker?

The first Fermentation Friday went very well. I'm looking forward to future Fermentation Fridays. Fortunately we have lined up hosts for the foreseeable future.

Fini!

Links added to last post...

How's that for a short post? ;-)

Home Brew Blogging Day Schedule... (Fermentation Friday)

Before you know it the second Home Brew Blogging Day will be upon us. Here is the tentative schedule. Sorry no links right now. I'll get to that. Also, two days to vote for a new name in the poll. Vote only once please.

Could you all confirm either by comment or email that you can do it.

• June 27 - Travis @ CNY Brew
• July 25 - Brew Dudes
• August 29 - Bunz @ The Panhandle Beer Snob and Redneck Brewery
• September 26 - Marcus @ Final gravity
• October 31 - Rob @ Pffft
• November 28 - Dr Joel @ The Grain Bill
• December 26? - Bryon @ Homebrewbeer.net
• January 30, 2009 - Jim @ lootcorp
  

Also, I'll help with what it expected.

Cheers!

First Firefly of the season...

I'll have to name the Belgian Style ale I just put, er racked, into the secondary Firefly Lights in honor of the firefly I saw tonight. It was a wonderful moment. Cool air scooping the humidity and heat away. Leaving a cool night behind...perfect. What the hell was that firefly doing? heheh

Cheers!

Poll coming to a close in 4 days...Fermentation Friday is winning...

Vote if you haven't.

Cheers!

Help rename Home Brew Blogging Day...take the poll...

Its over there on the sidebar someplace. You might have to scroll down a bit...

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Cheers!

Want to be on a T-Shirt?

All you homebrew bloggers who participated in Home Brew Blogging Day. I want to make a T-Shirt with all your website addresses and website names. Kinda like a concert T-Shirt. Leave a comment if you're ok/interested with me putting your site name and address on a T-Shirt.

I'll be selling this through Cafe Press or something similar. Not sure what the design will be yet. If there's enough interest I'll get started on that. By the way this isn't part of my get rich quick scheme. I'll sell them at cost :-) Base price would be either $10.00 for the "Value T-Shirt" or $15.00 for the "White T-Shirt. (CafePress prices with no markup)

NOTE: You don't have to buy one. I just want to be sure I can use your site on the shirt.

Perhaps the new name for Home Brew Blogging Day and a logo/graphic would be part of the design. Somebody stop me! Heheh...

What do you think? Good idea? Not cool?

Cheers!

Cleaning soda kegs...

Most of my kegs lined up and ready to be cleaned.

Cleaned with beer brite first (its what I have on hand)
Then iodophor
Then stored with 40 lbs of CO2 pressure
Ready to go when I need them

I've been pushing the cleaning liquids through them with CO2, but, I don't like the idea of wasting all that CO2. Hmmm...I guess I could just run some in the keg to get the inbound dip tube clean, then stop and pour in the hatch, then run some out to get the outbound dip tube. It would probably be faster than running the full 5 gallons of liquid through twice with CO2.

I imagine it isn't a huge deal anyway. I mean I can't imagine filling all these things up. That's why I was hoping to use them as primary or secondary fermenters.

Cheers!