Jan 2009 Fermentation Friday @ Lootcorp

Hey, I noticed a bunch of posts for this months Fermentation Friday in my sidebar. Cool! Gotta read them when I get back. Thanks lootcorp for hosting this month :-)

Hop Talk gets me thinking about tap handles...

I have a friend that could help me make something like this. Ahhh...always working toward my 2009 goals. Design ideas for the Brew Basement and The Kegerator.

http://hop-talk.com/2009/01/30/tapboards/

Courtesy of Hop Talk and Boing Boing Gadgets

January 2009 Fermentaion Friday: Brew Years Resolution

Well, I don't really like New Years Resolutions, but, Brew Years Resolutions are a different story ;-) So lootcorp, here's what's on the docket.

• Invite more people to participate in brew sessions.
• Continue working on the brew basement.
• Continue reusing yeast cakes.
• Continue to buy in bulk.
• Keep a better variety of grains on hand.
• Move to a bigger batch size with keggle.
• Fill a 16 gallon keg.
• Increase the hops yield.
• Keep blogging and using more pictures.
• Complete the kegerator project.

I think these are all pretty attainable. A stretch goal would be to brew something that takes more time like another barleywine, saison, sour beer, etc. and actually bottle it. Its just too easy to keg ;-) Thanks lootcorp for hosting this month.

(pic) Homegrown Chinook whole leaf hops being added to the boil...

Fermentation Friday tomorrow...Brew Years Resolutions @ lootcorp

Jim @ lootcorp wants to know about your Brew Years Resolutions. From what I gather you can get all nostalgic and talk about 2008 too. I've had some time to think about this. All my pie in the sky ideas are away. I'll be sharing some realistic goals with you. 'Cause I'm so serious about such things ;-)

So participate in Fermentation Friday. Tell us about you and your plans for 2009. Find more info over at lootcorp.

I want to taste the hops.

What do you do when you have two yeast cakes, amber liquid malt extract, homegrown hops and no steeping grains. You brew of course. Who cares! I'm really interested to see what this tastes like. Here was my plan.

No steeping grains. Eh...the amber LME should add some extra character. Might miss some freshness from the grains. The homegrown Chinook smells wonderful. Just one hop cone smashed in my fingers told me I had nothing to worry about. The freshness will come from the whole leaf hops.

So with only two ounces of whole leaf hops and no way to know the alpha acid I looked for example recipes. Found lots of references to Arrogant Bastard, Sierra Nevada Celebration, etc. Nothing with just two ounces of hops. What to do, what to do? Eh I'll throw in one ounce at the beginning of the boil, a third of an ounce in at halfway and the rest at flame out right before chilling. Should provide enough bittering for balance, some hops flavor and some big aromatics.

Well that's my goal anyway. Hmmm...I didn't even check the specific gravity. Too much particulate. I expect the abv to be in the 5% area. I used seven pounds of LME and half the yeast cake from the porter I just brewed to make a batch a little bigger than five gallons.

We'll see. Meanwhile I have two more soda kegs filled with five gallons of ale each. That big batch worked out great. One was a bit sweeter than the other and I blended the last part of the 6 gal batch with the smaller one. Should be ready to drink by Superbowl Sunday :-) They both taste good. They'll be better once all the yeast is out of suspension.

Chinook Ale....yep...

Going to put that backyard Chinook to good use. Arrogant Bastard is a beer that uses Chinook. Hmmm....inspiration.

Just got an email from Northern Table...

It was an inquiry about Fermentation Friday hosting. I said sure. After one look, Northern Table inspired me to post more pictures :-) Well done!

Making our own beer makes us happy. Here's why...

BTW that batch of dark beer is ready to keg. Just in time for the superbowl.

How about that last post? Thank you for the thoughtful response. I want to take the comments and put them into a slideshow or something. You know, like a badge of honor or something to put in the sidebar. I guess I'm continuing to describe the homebrew blogosphere. Might just use slide or sliderocket or something. For now these are the reasons homebrewing makes us happy.

hopshead said...
1) The excitement/thrill of enjoying and catchin' a buzz on a brew YOU made.
2) Excitement of just actually making/crafting a beer.
3) The time you spend to yourself during an all grain session
4) The fun you have researching a style or a process for making better beer.
5) Explaining to friends after they have had your homebrew and said, "man that is a good beer," that you MADE that beer.
6) And, just recently for me, teaching new people how to homebrew for themselves.

Adam said...
Brewing beer empowers me. Not sure I can explain why, but, it does.
It's a constant adventure.
I get to write about it. Lately I'm realizing that this is very important to me.
Sharing the experience with others.
It tastes good :-)
I haven't met a homebrewer I didn't like. Seriously.

marcus said...
1) The journey of crafting a beer from paper to grain to glass and blogging about it
2) Carrying on the tradition of all those before us
3) Learning the history of each style/region
4) Empowering others to do the same
5) Teaching people that there is more than BMC beers.

Timothy A. Shackton said...
Being one with the Earth, handling the raw materials with your bare hands, creating a pure, clean and fresh beer with a head retention that you cannot get, even from a local brewery. Custom designing your beer to fit your preference, challenging yourself over the years to perfect the styles that you have become happy with and always, always having a keg or two on tap for family and friends, especially during the holidays.

Brian said...
-recipe formulation
-the freedom to deviate from the initial recipe formalation on the fly
-the enjoyment brought from brewing (read "cooking" also) that many friends/family can enjoy
-the knowledge that I'll never perfect the process..for a brewing/cooking freak like myself this promises many variations moving forward on future beers
-lastly..it's beer..my beer..and I love being able to serve folks a brew they cant find anywhere else.
Cheers, and a great question!
Brian

Jason said...
For me it's an escape from my real lofe in corporate american. It helps me to relax and it's always great to be able to drink some great tasting beers with your friends and be able to brag that I made them.

If you have something to add. Please do :-) Post a comment.

What about brewing beer makes you happy?

Lets see if some of us like brewing for the same reasons? Lets see what others like that maybe we never considered.

CLICK HERE to comment :-)

By the way next Friday is Fermentation Friday. Check the sidebar.

Brewing a double batch of beer.

Here's the process I used. Recently I've been running out of beer so I thought I'd brew a double batch.

Highlights

• double batch: 11 gal. batch
  
• partial boil: 7 gal.
• reused yeast to save money, split yeast cake from last batch
• twice the beer in a little longer than the time it takes to brew one extract batch
  
• its winter so the immersion chiller works quickly with very cold tap water, helps when cooling the 7 gal. of wort
  

Process

• brewed a batch two weeks ago
• saved the yeast cake in the fermenter with the airlock on
  
• five days later brewed a double batch as a partial boil
• ...
  
• split the yeast cake/slurry by pouring three cups into a sanitized measuring cup
• left the rest in the fermenter
• chilled the wort to approx 90 degrees F
  
• had a 6.5 gal and 5 gal fermenter to fill
• racked 60% of the wort into the 6.5
• topped off with tap water
• added 3 cups of yeast from measuring cup to the 6.5
• added tap water to remaining wort in the kettle to cool it down
• racked into 5 gal carboy (the one with the remaining yeast)
  
• topped off with tap water
• rocked both carboys
  
• measured final gravity of both brews
• fermentation started overnight in a few hours

This is just a quick overview. If you have questions just email me. I'm always happy to answer questions. beerbits2@gmail.com

Brew affordable good tasting beer using extract @ $12.50/case.

Here's the process I used. Want to brew cheap beer? The double batch isn't necessary. I just happened to brew one this time.

Ingredients & Cost

• $33.00 14 lbs of bulk amber LME $2.3 a pound
• $1.40 2.2 oz Cascade (bulk price paid before hop shortage)
  
• $2.40 2.2 oz Hallertau (bulk price paid before hop shortage)
• $1.00 9 oz Chocolate Malt
• $1.70 15.6 oz Roasted Malt
• $1.00 reused yeast cake from previous batch (price prorated at 1/3 cost of two dry yeast packets)
• $40.50 total cost for 10-11 gallons
• 45-50 cents a beer
• less than $12.50 case

If you have questions just email me. I'm always happy to answer questions. Add a comment or email me beerbits2@gmail.com

Ordering hops, grain and malt extract in bulk and storing it.

Now I'm out of hops and steeping grains. Yest that's right, I finally used all this stuff up. It took over a year, but, I did it. You know what? All of it kept well too. I kept the grain in plastic bags in an old wooden dresser down in the basement. The pounds of hops were kept in their original bags clipped or tied shut gathered together in a bigger plastic bag and stored in the fridge.

Now I have no scientific way of proving the hops alpha acid didn't decrease or the flavor of the steeping grains didn't change, but, my beer still tastes good. I imagine that a cool dry place for grains and the fridge for the hops is what did it.

I've also ordered and used up 3 or 4 big cans of liquid malt extract since then. Just store those in the fridge too. I've been able to keep it for 6 months at a time with no signs of spoilage.

So now I need more ingredients. Keeping the stuff in the house is what allows me to brew when I get the urge. If you can afford the investment up front, its worth it. Of course I don't think you can even buy hops by the pound now from homebrew stores. I ordered mine just before the hop shortage. I guess my price per batch will be going up a bit.

Brewed something dark last night...

One large 6-7 gallon partial boil split and topped off into a 5 gallon and 6 gallon batch. I'm tired of running out of beer ya know.

• amber liquit malt extract
• chocolate malt
• roasted malt
• cascade hops for bittering
• hallertau for flavoring
• yeast cake split from last batch (Nottingham & Safale American) Not planned this way. In the last batch the Nottingham didn't take off so I added the Safale American.

Not expecting anything crazy from this. Definately a step down from the Chocolate Porter. Just a nice roasty dark house beer to last out the next couple months. At 4% or 5% it should fit the bill nicely.

Yeah, brewing didn't happen. Shared chocolate porter instead.

Not sure when the next brew will happen. Two growlers of the chocolate porter were shared though. Good reviews so far :-)

Maybe I'll make the same recipe with amber liquid malt extract. Hmmm....

This man has something to say and you should listen.

Rob at Pfiff really hit the nail on the head. Do you like good beer? Where do you buy it? Where is it brewed?

BTW I found this little nugget via my 5 Recent sidebar gadget.

Chocolate porter kegged and I'm brewing tonight...

I decided that the chocolate porter is ready to keg. Kegged it last night. It could have fermented longer, but, I like the residual sweetness that is present right now. So, it is chilling and carbonating right now. Should be very drinkable by the Steelers game tomorrow night. I might be rushing this one a bit, but, I don't care. I'll be able to tell by the end of the keg in a few weeks. At that point I'll be hoping the keg doesn't kick, 'cause it tastes so good. Heheh.

In other news, I'm going to try and brew with some of that Amber Extract tonight. Saved the yeast cake from the chocolate porter batch. Its been a while since I used so much amber malt extract. Should be interesting.

Save money when extract brewing!

Now that you know you can store the large 33 lb jugs of liquid malt extract, you should know that you can save lots of money this way too.

If you know you are going to brew five batches of beer over the next few months and you don't mind using this as your base each time. Why not? You can save some serious cash over buying cans of liquid malt extract. Cost for this 33 lbs of Munton's Amber Liquid Malt Extract was $77.00 at a local homebrew store. Less than $2.5o a pound. Sure beats $4.50 a pound for the small 3.3 pound cans. Almost half the cost.

I imagine it work for the dry malt extract too. Just haven't tried it yet. That usually comes in 50 lb bags. If you really want to save money on ingredients consider going all grain.

Can you store a 33 pound can of Liquid Malt Extract for months?

Yes, I do it all the time. How do I do it?

1. measure out what I need
2. use a sanitized spatula to scrape the malt off the mouth of the can/jug
3. store it in the fridge
4. repeat

Over the years I've purchased four or five of these thirty three pound jugs and never had a problem. Thats way over twenty batches of beer.

33 lbs of Muntons Amber Liquid Malt Extract is mine!

If you are looking for some try malt extract on Amazon.

I've been brewing with an extra light extract from Northern Brewer consistently over the last couple years. Thats usually my base and I just add steeping grains and hops to get what I want. The idea is that I save money and really learn how to brew with a particular ingredient by using so much. So how does it work? Pretty well. Most of the beer has been very drinkable and friends seem to enjoy it. I've brewed stouts, English Ales, Belgian Ales and various other potluck beers that I didn't try to fit into a style.

Along with the light LME I've been using a Wheat LME as a variation. Wheat also seems to give my beer more appeal with the crew. The beers are bit darker, but, all in all still very pleasant for most of my friends.

Amber liquid malt extract could prove challenging. Will the beer I brew be less palatable to my friends? Will I need to augment with light extract? My beer will look darker and have more of a caramel taste. I can't wait to find out. I have 33 lbs of it to experiment with!

Steelers vs. Eagles Superbowl? Will the choc dark brew be kegged in time?

A Pennsylvania Super Bowl would be very interesting indeed. I have more important things to ponder at the moment though. Will my chocolate dark beer be kegged in time for the Steelers game on Sunday? I think it might at almost 10 days in the primary. I'll know more after I check it tonight.

Maybe not, there is a lot of malt in there. Enough for 7 or 8% abv. Hmm...

Yech...porter in the one gallon primary smells and tastes bad...

I have a one gallon batch of porter that tastes like crap. Remember when I brewed this batch? The majority of it got kegged and tasted quite good. This minibatch is that gallon I set aside for a chocolate experiment. I did leave it in the one gallon primary for five or six weeks. Oops...forgot about it. Could it be yeast autolysis causing this nasty smell and taste? Smells kinda like warm rubber or something sulfury.

Did some research (is that what we call a google search?) and found tons of info on yeast autolysis and well lets just say the jury is still out. I'm beginning to think autolysis is a religion. I think the best way to understand what yeast autolysis smells like is to leave some yeast slurry decay for a while and see what it smells like.

I think I'll just bottle it and see what happens over time.

Two posts about beer and health from fellow bloggers.

Very interesting. Is beer bad or good for your health? Two totally different approaches.

Beer Examiner - Charlie Papazian
Drink beer to your health - part 1 - beer and hard liquor as beneficial as wine

lootcorp 3.0 - a brewing blog
Diets and Beer Don’t Mix

Freak Bros lager chest photo...

Sometimes you just get excited by a photo. Of course with the Freak Bros, you never know what to expect. :-) The Chibes' been doin' some visual expression of his own with beer label galleries.

Sayin' Hi to the beer/hombrew Twitter folks...

Evan Rail and The Brush Valley Brewer are following BB2/BeerCrier via twitter. Hey there! Good morning. In other news, the Chocolate beer is still fermenting. Need to get another one going, but, first to order supplies.

Anybody out there following via Twitter?

Click through and leave a comment. If you can't then just twitter back. I have this blog pushing updates to Twitter via Twitterfeed. Recently I've been getting followed more and more. Definately a good thing.

Welcome to BB2. Let yourselves be known! Leave a comment!

5 Recent Homebrew Blogs...and a cartoon.

Over there in the sidebar I added one of those little Blogger Gadgets with recent posts from my favorite homebrew blogs. I call it 5 Recent Homebrew Blogs. There's a problem though. It only shows the five most recent posts. Today that wasn't enough. I needed more than five else I miss even the smallest morsel of drama unfolding in homebrew blog land. So I clicked on this little thingamabob. That says "Show All". And it did. Then I read this intriguing post. (we'll wait while you check it out... did you read it?) To tell you the truth, I don't get what's funny about that cartoon either. Do you?


So if you "get it" please help us all out. I mean not only would we benefit from you wisdom. It would help me illustrate how wonderful the little "show all" thing is. It might even get you to look at my sidebar which is really the point of this here post. While I'm disclosing all this I might as well tell you that I have another dirty little secret. I'm trying to encourage traffic in the homebrew blogosphere. There you have it. The dirty truth. Ugly isn't it? So spend your clicks wisely and click through to a homebrew blog :-) Ok I feel better now. Kinda cathartic really.

Brewed a chocolate beer last night.

At approximately 8 % abv. this should be a nice sipper. Hoping the liquid malt extract and the yeast work together to leave some sweetness behind to complement the chocolate.

• Nottingham Yeast
• Wheat LME
• Steeping Grains (Chocolate, Roasted Barley, Special B)
• Cascade (bittering), Halluertau & Fuggles (flavor and aroma)
• 1.5 cups of Hershey's Cocoa powder during the last 15 minutes of the boil

First time I ever used Cocoa. Should be interesting :-) These aren't necessarily the ingredients I would have chosen, but, its what I have at the time and will keep with my goal of using what I have before I spend money. It also gets me more familiar with these ingredients by using them over and over again.

A different kind of homebrew...MythTV

Do you like recording TV? You know PVRs, DVRs or perhaps you've heard of Tivo? Well MythTV is the open source project that enables you to create your own DVR from a computer. Years ago I had this setup. I don't remember why I stopped using it, but, I'm back. Just set it up tonight.

What does this have to do with homebrew beer? Nothing. Unless some of you homebrew bloggers out there are also computer tinkerers ;-)

Hey, if you have ever wanted to catch that how things work show about beer, but, didn't have a way to record it while you were away...what? Thats homebrew related!

January 2009 Fermentation Friday topic announced @ lootcorp

Thanks for the early topic post lootcorp. We're back on track for 2009! This is your chance to make some homebrew related resolutions with the rest of the homebrew bloggers out there.

I have some plans for 2009. Time to go write them up.

Cheers!

Waking up to 2009.

The kids stayed overnight at the neighbors for a sleep over as our tradition would have it and we rejoined them for some breakfast this morning. Nothing like waking up to a clean house on Jan 1st :-) Still thinking on that last retrospective post. If I don't get it done today, well it ain't gettin' done.

Happy New Year! Got any homebrew plans for 2009?