Well, shit. That didn't work. I was brewing an India Dark Ale five gallon extract kit and something went wrong. Maybe not wrong but not right. Basically, the whole batch tastes like vinegar. It's pretty gross.
It's my fault, too. I got lazy and didn't secondary ferment or bottle on time. Secondaries and bottling days don't have to be strictly on schedule. You can push them back but don't let it go too long like I did.
So the end result is that I start this year and go into Febrewary with five gallons of extra hoppy vinegar.
Showing posts with label febrewary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label febrewary. Show all posts
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Infusion
I've been having a lot of fun with making mead at home but that's not the only alcohol I drink. I'm also a big fan of flavored vodka. Because the production of vodka involves distillation it isn't legal to make at home but it is legal to infuse flavor into vodka you purchase.
Vodka, if you weren't familiar with the recipe, is essentially wine made with potatoes and then run through a still. The technical aspect is quite simple but there's a law against distilling alcohol by home brewers. We can ferment it; we can't distill it. In addition to vodka, the law takes other distilled alcohols like brandy and whiskey off the product lineup as well.
While distilling vodka from scratch isn't available, buying unflavored vodka off the shelf and infusing your own flavors into it is legal and super easy. My girlfriend and I are members of a food co-op and occasionally have too much food. Rather than let the fruit rot or toss it in the compost, I've taken to making infusions with it. To do this yourself you'll need a half-gallon (roughly 2 L) empty growler, a 1.75 L bottle of vodka, and a handful of fruit.
First step, as in all home brewing operations, is to sanitize everything. It isn't actually critical because you're not fermenting anything here but it's good shop practice. Chop the fruit into pieces small enough to cram into the growler. Some fruits, especially whole berries, need to be muddled to release their flavor. Place your hand over the mouth of the growler and give it a good shake to lightly bruise the fruit. Now pour in the vodka, cap the growler, and place it on a shelf out of your way. Wash out the vodka bottle and save it. Use a solid cap and not an airlock because, again, this is infusing and not fermenting.
The infusion should be complete in one week. Give it a good stir to thoroughly distribute the flavor and pour off a sample. If the flavor isn't strong enough, cap it and put it back on the shelf. Check it again every couple of days until the alcohol has reached peak flavor. When it's done infusing, pour the vodka back into its original bottle, straining out the fruit. Keep the fruit though since it's now the same proof as the alcohol it was soaking in.
My first batch of blueberry was a big hit among my friends. I have batches of melon, citrus, grape, and even apple cinnamon in the works. Blackberries will be ripe around August and a peppermint infusion will be a big hit for the holidays. Don't do pumpkin spice; just don't.
I've written this entire article specifying vodka as the alcohol but any unflavored drinking alcohol will work. It's just that most other alcohols have a strong flavor of their own. Vodka is uniquely advertised on the basis of the purity of its distillation and is often the base for store-bought alcohols with novelty flavors. Anyway, drink responsibly and enjoy a new dimension of alcohol.
Vodka, if you weren't familiar with the recipe, is essentially wine made with potatoes and then run through a still. The technical aspect is quite simple but there's a law against distilling alcohol by home brewers. We can ferment it; we can't distill it. In addition to vodka, the law takes other distilled alcohols like brandy and whiskey off the product lineup as well.
While distilling vodka from scratch isn't available, buying unflavored vodka off the shelf and infusing your own flavors into it is legal and super easy. My girlfriend and I are members of a food co-op and occasionally have too much food. Rather than let the fruit rot or toss it in the compost, I've taken to making infusions with it. To do this yourself you'll need a half-gallon (roughly 2 L) empty growler, a 1.75 L bottle of vodka, and a handful of fruit.
First step, as in all home brewing operations, is to sanitize everything. It isn't actually critical because you're not fermenting anything here but it's good shop practice. Chop the fruit into pieces small enough to cram into the growler. Some fruits, especially whole berries, need to be muddled to release their flavor. Place your hand over the mouth of the growler and give it a good shake to lightly bruise the fruit. Now pour in the vodka, cap the growler, and place it on a shelf out of your way. Wash out the vodka bottle and save it. Use a solid cap and not an airlock because, again, this is infusing and not fermenting.
The infusion should be complete in one week. Give it a good stir to thoroughly distribute the flavor and pour off a sample. If the flavor isn't strong enough, cap it and put it back on the shelf. Check it again every couple of days until the alcohol has reached peak flavor. When it's done infusing, pour the vodka back into its original bottle, straining out the fruit. Keep the fruit though since it's now the same proof as the alcohol it was soaking in.
My first batch of blueberry was a big hit among my friends. I have batches of melon, citrus, grape, and even apple cinnamon in the works. Blackberries will be ripe around August and a peppermint infusion will be a big hit for the holidays. Don't do pumpkin spice; just don't.
I've written this entire article specifying vodka as the alcohol but any unflavored drinking alcohol will work. It's just that most other alcohols have a strong flavor of their own. Vodka is uniquely advertised on the basis of the purity of its distillation and is often the base for store-bought alcohols with novelty flavors. Anyway, drink responsibly and enjoy a new dimension of alcohol.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Follow the Recipe
Metheglin is a variety of mead flavored with hops, herbs, or spices. Capsicumel, a hot pepper flavored mead, would be a metheglin rather than a melomel. Melomel is mead flavored with fruit, like the peaches I tried before. I promised I was going to make a capsicumel earlier and so I've started one after getting a great deal on a large quantity of Anaheim peppers. I've had some level of success with mead and also some peach orchard scented abominable failure. The key is following a good recipe and this time I'm using one from Charlie Papazian's Brewing Mead.
This recipe starts with a well-tested effective basic mead that can be brewed and bottled on its own. But I'll be adding in gruit, which is the flavoring that takes this brew from mead to metheglin. I also changed up some of my brewing day technique following guidance in Brewing Mead and elsewhere. This new process stirs together honey and water and heats it to a low boil before adding it to more water in the carboy for fermentation. Later the gruit is boiled into a strong tea and added to the mead at bottling time. I got the peppers early so they are seeded, bagged, and frozen until first fermentation is done.
This recipe starts with a well-tested effective basic mead that can be brewed and bottled on its own. But I'll be adding in gruit, which is the flavoring that takes this brew from mead to metheglin. I also changed up some of my brewing day technique following guidance in Brewing Mead and elsewhere. This new process stirs together honey and water and heats it to a low boil before adding it to more water in the carboy for fermentation. Later the gruit is boiled into a strong tea and added to the mead at bottling time. I got the peppers early so they are seeded, bagged, and frozen until first fermentation is done.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Ale Aboard
Now that we're wrangling our own yeast for home brewing, let's talk a bit more about this. For the home brewer, it's one less thing to put in the shopping cart when stocking up for brew day. Just take the corral out of the refrigerator, boost the volume, and get ready for a new batch. Of course, you'll either need to set up several flasks, one corral for each species you use, or you'll need to pare down the variety of beer recipes you use, selecting only those that use the species of yeast you're raising. Who am I kidding?! You're opening a ranch.
But now think about what these starter flasks are. It's yeast, water, and malt allowed to ferment. That sounds like unhopped beer. There's evidence that it may even be the original recipe for ale, dating back to Chaucer's day! We're all used to the super hoppy IPA style common today but in 1483, the ale brewers in London wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor petitioning for a law to ban hops and spices from being included in ale. From that, we can surmise that ale as it was made then was only yeast, malt, and water. That's according to research by Lt. Colonel Gayre in his book Wassail! In Mazers of Mead. As opposed to mead which is made with honey, ale is or at least was made with less expensive malt and didn't include hops until the 16th Century. India Pale Ale, of course, dates only to the British colonial period where the excess hops acted as a preservative when shipping beer overseas. So our yeast starters, effective for our regular brewing, are an historic brew in their own right. That's definitely something I'll be exploring on a later brew day.
Wassail, by the way, is a fascinating book. Published in 1948, it traces the history and etymology of mead, wine, and beer. Pick up a copy if you can find it. You're most likely to find it as Charlie Papazian's 1986 book Brewing Mead which appends chapters on equipment and recipes for several varieties of mead identified by Lt. Col. Gayre.
Wassail. To your health. Please drink responsibly.
But now think about what these starter flasks are. It's yeast, water, and malt allowed to ferment. That sounds like unhopped beer. There's evidence that it may even be the original recipe for ale, dating back to Chaucer's day! We're all used to the super hoppy IPA style common today but in 1483, the ale brewers in London wrote a letter to the Lord Mayor petitioning for a law to ban hops and spices from being included in ale. From that, we can surmise that ale as it was made then was only yeast, malt, and water. That's according to research by Lt. Colonel Gayre in his book Wassail! In Mazers of Mead. As opposed to mead which is made with honey, ale is or at least was made with less expensive malt and didn't include hops until the 16th Century. India Pale Ale, of course, dates only to the British colonial period where the excess hops acted as a preservative when shipping beer overseas. So our yeast starters, effective for our regular brewing, are an historic brew in their own right. That's definitely something I'll be exploring on a later brew day.
Wassail, by the way, is a fascinating book. Published in 1948, it traces the history and etymology of mead, wine, and beer. Pick up a copy if you can find it. You're most likely to find it as Charlie Papazian's 1986 book Brewing Mead which appends chapters on equipment and recipes for several varieties of mead identified by Lt. Col. Gayre.
Wassail. To your health. Please drink responsibly.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Start Your Engine
I've started doing something new in my home brewery. In previous batches I only proofed my yeast. I was typically using an emulsified dry yeast. To get the yeast active for their fermenting duties, I'd pour the packet into a quarter cup of warm water in a sterilized measuring cup. Doing that before starting to boil the wort gives the yeast almost an hour to get active. Even older yeast can yield good results with this simple method.
In my latest batch, however, I switched to starting my yeast. The day before brew day, we'll call it starting day, I boiled two cups of water with a quarter cup of malt extract then chilled that pint of wort and pitched my yeast into it in a sterilized flask. Boil to sterilize the water and dissolve the sugar then chill down to a temperature the yeast are happy with; same as you do on brew day. For the sugar, malt or malt extract matched to what the yeast will be working in is best but even regular table sugar will work. Overnight, the yeast multiplied and grew strong in their flask and I pitched in the entire solution into my wort for a quick and ready start to the fermentation cycle. Some sources recommend letting the yeast settle into the bottom of the flask and pouring off most of the water before pitching it into the wort. It's the brewer's choice on what works best for them.
Started yeast also opens up a new opportunity for the home brewer; yeast wrangling. Instead of pitching the entire starter into the wort, double the recipe to make a quart of starter but only pitch a pint into the fermenter, saving the remainder in your refrigerator. Then every starting day, bring out your corral of yeast, add warm wort to bring the volume and activity back up, and proceed like before, reserving half of the herd for next time. When you're wrangling yeast, you do have to keep an eye on your herd to prevent infections and keep them well fed so they're ready every brew day. Actually, keep your nose on the herd; you'll smell off flavors developing in the starter if an infection takes hold. Keep you equipment as clean as you would on brewing and bottling days and you won't have any trouble. Happy brewing!
Please drink responsibly.
In my latest batch, however, I switched to starting my yeast. The day before brew day, we'll call it starting day, I boiled two cups of water with a quarter cup of malt extract then chilled that pint of wort and pitched my yeast into it in a sterilized flask. Boil to sterilize the water and dissolve the sugar then chill down to a temperature the yeast are happy with; same as you do on brew day. For the sugar, malt or malt extract matched to what the yeast will be working in is best but even regular table sugar will work. Overnight, the yeast multiplied and grew strong in their flask and I pitched in the entire solution into my wort for a quick and ready start to the fermentation cycle. Some sources recommend letting the yeast settle into the bottom of the flask and pouring off most of the water before pitching it into the wort. It's the brewer's choice on what works best for them.
Started yeast also opens up a new opportunity for the home brewer; yeast wrangling. Instead of pitching the entire starter into the wort, double the recipe to make a quart of starter but only pitch a pint into the fermenter, saving the remainder in your refrigerator. Then every starting day, bring out your corral of yeast, add warm wort to bring the volume and activity back up, and proceed like before, reserving half of the herd for next time. When you're wrangling yeast, you do have to keep an eye on your herd to prevent infections and keep them well fed so they're ready every brew day. Actually, keep your nose on the herd; you'll smell off flavors developing in the starter if an infection takes hold. Keep you equipment as clean as you would on brewing and bottling days and you won't have any trouble. Happy brewing!
Please drink responsibly.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Next Month
Let's clear something up first. As it turns out, most brewers only rack once, from primary to secondary fermentation, and don't rack multiple times to improve clarity. So that's information I'll be using soon to improve my mead brewing.
I am still having a lot of trouble with the clarity of my mead. So that will be a major focus for Febrewary 2015. I'll also be working with some new equipment to help quantify my brewery operation.
Here's something else I might need to work on: Don't leave the brew in the carboy. After the yeast are done and the beverage is fermented, bottle it and put it away for conditioning. It won't settle or condition in the carboy and can take on off-tastes.
I am still having a lot of trouble with the clarity of my mead. So that will be a major focus for Febrewary 2015. I'll also be working with some new equipment to help quantify my brewery operation.
Here's something else I might need to work on: Don't leave the brew in the carboy. After the yeast are done and the beverage is fermented, bottle it and put it away for conditioning. It won't settle or condition in the carboy and can take on off-tastes.
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Blow Off
I said I'd be back with new homebrewing definitions and this situation brings on some very colorful vocabulary.
Let me set the scene. You've just poured a batch of must into a carboy to ferment and gone off to do something else, like write articles on Blogger. When you return to your brewery some time later, you discover that the fermenting process has knocked the airlock off the top of the carboy and spilled a peach concoction all over the kitchen floor. Yeah, that just happened to me.
Sometimes yeast gets very active and the wort or must can expand in the early hours of fermentation. It's a desired effect in its own way but it works better for rising bread than brewing beer, wine, or mead. It signals that fermentation is happening and the yeast are awake and getting down to work.
There are a few methods for dealing with blow off. To start with, leave some head space in the carboy. Don't fill it too full with wort or must. That will leave the brew some room to expand into before reaching the airlock. Experience will tell you where the fill line is for a particular recipe in your equipment. Additionally, most carboys come with both an airlock and blow off tubing. To use the tubing, sanitize it with the rest of your brewery gear and install one end in the stopper in place of the airlock and sink the other end under water. A reserve of sanitizing solution can be held back for this purpose or plain tap water can be used. You just need to ensure that the hose acts like the airlock and only allows CO2 out, keeping out air and foreign bacteria.
Within a few days, the yeast will settle down and won't be forcing any more material out through the hose. You can replace the hose with the airlock assembly at this point. Good luck!
Please drink responsibly.
Let me set the scene. You've just poured a batch of must into a carboy to ferment and gone off to do something else, like write articles on Blogger. When you return to your brewery some time later, you discover that the fermenting process has knocked the airlock off the top of the carboy and spilled a peach concoction all over the kitchen floor. Yeah, that just happened to me.
Sometimes yeast gets very active and the wort or must can expand in the early hours of fermentation. It's a desired effect in its own way but it works better for rising bread than brewing beer, wine, or mead. It signals that fermentation is happening and the yeast are awake and getting down to work.
There are a few methods for dealing with blow off. To start with, leave some head space in the carboy. Don't fill it too full with wort or must. That will leave the brew some room to expand into before reaching the airlock. Experience will tell you where the fill line is for a particular recipe in your equipment. Additionally, most carboys come with both an airlock and blow off tubing. To use the tubing, sanitize it with the rest of your brewery gear and install one end in the stopper in place of the airlock and sink the other end under water. A reserve of sanitizing solution can be held back for this purpose or plain tap water can be used. You just need to ensure that the hose acts like the airlock and only allows CO2 out, keeping out air and foreign bacteria.
Within a few days, the yeast will settle down and won't be forcing any more material out through the hose. You can replace the hose with the airlock assembly at this point. Good luck!
Please drink responsibly.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Peach Puree
I made up a new batch of mead. My first batch, which was a short mead meant to be consumed right after brewing, was a melomel style, honey with any fruit, in this case oranges. It just misses qualifying as a pyment, which is honey with white or red grapes; I used California raisins with the oranges. Second batch used almost the same recipe as the first, just in larger quantity. Actually, it ended up being almost a bochet, which uses caramelized honey. You see, I had let the honey crystallize and had to turn it back into liquid in a double boiler; that almost didn't go well. Also, I swapped out the raisins in favor of blackberries, pushing the recipe towards a bochetomel.
This new batch is a complete departure from the citrus-fed bread yeast of the past. I am using real champagne yeast, for one thing. That is definitely going to change the flavor of the end product. It's still a melomel mead, using peaches as the fruit.
Oh, this one has been an adventure. It takes a while to ship twelve pounds of honey anyway, but when your order also includes a new recipe kit by famous actor and internet personality Wil Wheaton, well, things get delayed. Parallel to that, I had ordered 25 pounds of peaches from a food coop and when the honey and yeast didn't arrive alongside the peaches, I had to scramble to slice and freeze the fruit. Eventually, all the ingredients were present but then thawing the peaches made a mess due to cheap plastic bags.
Here's where the title comes from. In the middle of laying up the must, I decided to run the thawed peach slices through the blender to make them easier to pour into the carboy. For next time, I think I'm going to puree the fruit first before freezing. I could also can the slices to preserve them that way, in case I don't get all the ingredients together at the same time again.
Anyway, this peach melomel will be a short mead and I'll write a follow-up on my impressions when it's done fermenting in a few months. There's a few other varieties I want to try out in the future. Being so close to Hatch, N.M., a capsicumel is a definite must try. I'd also like to try fermenting a braggot, a morat, and maybe even an intentional bochet. I have a few rose bushes in the yard so a rhodomel is also an option. Keep brewing. Salud!
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners and are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration. Please drink responsibly.
This new batch is a complete departure from the citrus-fed bread yeast of the past. I am using real champagne yeast, for one thing. That is definitely going to change the flavor of the end product. It's still a melomel mead, using peaches as the fruit.
Oh, this one has been an adventure. It takes a while to ship twelve pounds of honey anyway, but when your order also includes a new recipe kit by famous actor and internet personality Wil Wheaton, well, things get delayed. Parallel to that, I had ordered 25 pounds of peaches from a food coop and when the honey and yeast didn't arrive alongside the peaches, I had to scramble to slice and freeze the fruit. Eventually, all the ingredients were present but then thawing the peaches made a mess due to cheap plastic bags.
Here's where the title comes from. In the middle of laying up the must, I decided to run the thawed peach slices through the blender to make them easier to pour into the carboy. For next time, I think I'm going to puree the fruit first before freezing. I could also can the slices to preserve them that way, in case I don't get all the ingredients together at the same time again.
Anyway, this peach melomel will be a short mead and I'll write a follow-up on my impressions when it's done fermenting in a few months. There's a few other varieties I want to try out in the future. Being so close to Hatch, N.M., a capsicumel is a definite must try. I'd also like to try fermenting a braggot, a morat, and maybe even an intentional bochet. I have a few rose bushes in the yard so a rhodomel is also an option. Keep brewing. Salud!
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners and are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration. Please drink responsibly.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Must You
I've been brewing again recently, laying up a melomel. That's a type of mead made with honey and fruit. If I reserve some for aging, the aged mead is a great or long mead as opposed to the short mead consumed immediately after brewing. That aging could be years.
Knowing some of the terminology lets you follow conversations and recipes a lot easier. I've seen many recipes where they just assume you know all their jargon and use that to weed out the people who aren't "serious" about joining them. I worked in IT so I've seen that garbage my entire career. Here's some definitions to get you on top of the curve.
Malt is the roasted and boiled grains used to make beer. Extract kits turn the malt into a syrup to make things easy for beginners. I use extract kits and may never start brewing with all-grain recipes.
Hops are flowers that add spice and flavor to beer. They also preserve beer which is why so many craft recipes and IPA style beers are so hoppy. IPA was a style brewed in England and shipped to their colonies in India, hence the name India Pale Ale.
Wort is unfermented beer. It's the malt, hops, water, and maybe spices but no alcohol because yeast hadn't worked on it yet. Must is unfermented wine or mead. Water, fruit and or honey but again no alcohol.
Yeast normally comes in packets of emulsified live yeast bacteria. It looks like granules. The granules are broken down and release the yeast by soaking in warm water. This is called proofing and gets the yeast ready to turn wort or must into beer or wine.
Brewers need to ensure that only the yeast they've bought get to participate in fermentation. They use special chemicals to wash and sterilize their equipment. The washing process may be abbreviated as CIP, or clean in place. Alternatively, the brewer could let wild bacteria ferment the wort or must and call the resulting product lambic but using unknown varieties of bacteria like that makes it hard to be consistent from batch to batch.
Lees are the tired and dead yeast plus fruit, hops, grain, or whatever left in the bottom of the carboy after fermentation. The carboy is the glass or plastic jug that the fermentation happens in. Racking moves the fermented product into another carboy and leaves the lees behind to be washed away or composted.
That's most of the jargon which slowed me down when I didn't know the definitions. I'll bring you more definitions as I learn them. Good luck!
Please drink responsibly.
Knowing some of the terminology lets you follow conversations and recipes a lot easier. I've seen many recipes where they just assume you know all their jargon and use that to weed out the people who aren't "serious" about joining them. I worked in IT so I've seen that garbage my entire career. Here's some definitions to get you on top of the curve.
Malt is the roasted and boiled grains used to make beer. Extract kits turn the malt into a syrup to make things easy for beginners. I use extract kits and may never start brewing with all-grain recipes.
Hops are flowers that add spice and flavor to beer. They also preserve beer which is why so many craft recipes and IPA style beers are so hoppy. IPA was a style brewed in England and shipped to their colonies in India, hence the name India Pale Ale.
Wort is unfermented beer. It's the malt, hops, water, and maybe spices but no alcohol because yeast hadn't worked on it yet. Must is unfermented wine or mead. Water, fruit and or honey but again no alcohol.
Yeast normally comes in packets of emulsified live yeast bacteria. It looks like granules. The granules are broken down and release the yeast by soaking in warm water. This is called proofing and gets the yeast ready to turn wort or must into beer or wine.
Brewers need to ensure that only the yeast they've bought get to participate in fermentation. They use special chemicals to wash and sterilize their equipment. The washing process may be abbreviated as CIP, or clean in place. Alternatively, the brewer could let wild bacteria ferment the wort or must and call the resulting product lambic but using unknown varieties of bacteria like that makes it hard to be consistent from batch to batch.
Lees are the tired and dead yeast plus fruit, hops, grain, or whatever left in the bottom of the carboy after fermentation. The carboy is the glass or plastic jug that the fermentation happens in. Racking moves the fermented product into another carboy and leaves the lees behind to be washed away or composted.
That's most of the jargon which slowed me down when I didn't know the definitions. I'll bring you more definitions as I learn them. Good luck!
Please drink responsibly.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Rack 'em Up
Let's kick off this year's Febrewary with a quick post about a new technique you can add to your brewing process called racking.
The concept is pretty simple. After fermentation has run for a couple weeks and the yeast has settled, you move the product into another sterilized fermenter for an additional couple of weeks before bottling. The point is to separate out the lees, the tired yeast, the fruit bits, and whatever other solid waste is left in the primary fermenter. This improves the clarity a lot so it's a good technique to learn if you make wines and meads.
The concept is pretty simple. After fermentation has run for a couple weeks and the yeast has settled, you move the product into another sterilized fermenter for an additional couple of weeks before bottling. The point is to separate out the lees, the tired yeast, the fruit bits, and whatever other solid waste is left in the primary fermenter. This improves the clarity a lot so it's a good technique to learn if you make wines and meads.
You will need
Since you've been brewing for a year you should already have most of the things you will need to take up racking. If you bought a starter kit like the one I linked to in Gathering Supplies you should only need to buy another fermenter and another threaded stopper and airlock to go with it. Keep an eye out for "buy this, get an extra fermenter" deals. They come out every so often from most of the brewer supply houses.
Sanitize... yeah, you know this step
Run up a batch of sanitizing solution and wash and sanitize your new fermenter, threaded stopper, and airlock, along with your auto-siphon and transfer hose. If you're using a smaller fermenter, you could just sanitize a funnel instead of all the transfer gear and just pick it up and pour from one container to the other. Use a coffee filter inside the funnel to catch the lees.
Rack 'em, Stack 'em, Rinse and Repeat
Presumably, since the previous brewing stage was successful enough to add a racking stage, the location you keep your fermenter is good for yeast biology. After you've got the brewing product into the new fermenter, install the airlock according to its instructions and place the new one where the old one was. Then let it do its thing.
Be sure to wash out the old fermenter. That muck in the bottom is still perfect growth medium for all sorts of microbial mischief. But hang on to it; lees are great green for your compost.
You can rack again back into the original fermenter to further improve the clarity of your product. Wait at least a week for things in the brew to settle down and remember to sanitize all your equipment before you transfer.
Adding this new technique into your brewing stages will give your product better clarity and a smoother texture you and your friends will enjoy. Slainte!
Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration. Please drink responsibly.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Brew Fail
Well, that sucks.
You'll recall that I was brewing up an Irish Red beer last February; which turned out great, by the way. I took a bit of a break to concentrate on mead for my friend's wedding reception and then I started a brown ale. Which I ruined. It was only a one gallon fermenter but still. Down the drain.
It started off poorly when the wort boiled over. Huge hoppy, malty mess all over the stove top. Then I got it into the fermenter and the yeast took off for a day. Just about blew the airlock off the stopper. Lots of foam. And then it just stopped, 24 hours of massive activity then nothing. The yeast settled to the bottom and it never fermented.
I think I burned the sugar when I was brewing up the malt. Or it could have blown all the sugar out one of those times it all overflowed.
Anyway, I did admit to not being an expert. I've gotten a couple successful batches out and this time I didn't. I'll obviously keep trying.
You'll recall that I was brewing up an Irish Red beer last February; which turned out great, by the way. I took a bit of a break to concentrate on mead for my friend's wedding reception and then I started a brown ale. Which I ruined. It was only a one gallon fermenter but still. Down the drain.
It started off poorly when the wort boiled over. Huge hoppy, malty mess all over the stove top. Then I got it into the fermenter and the yeast took off for a day. Just about blew the airlock off the stopper. Lots of foam. And then it just stopped, 24 hours of massive activity then nothing. The yeast settled to the bottom and it never fermented.
I think I burned the sugar when I was brewing up the malt. Or it could have blown all the sugar out one of those times it all overflowed.
Anyway, I did admit to not being an expert. I've gotten a couple successful batches out and this time I didn't. I'll obviously keep trying.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
St. Patrick's Day
In one of the closing posts of my Febrewary series, it's appropriate that it should fall on this day. We've been from brewing to bottling, and now we're near the end.
St. Patrick was a 5th century Christian bishop in Ireland, where he is now the patron saint. His life and death involve a lot of religion which I don't want to get into, including symbols of snakes and clovers. Needless to say, Patrick is clearly identified with Irish religious history and national identity.
Currently, St. Patrick's Day, March 17, is celebrated as a day of drinking and merry-making, so I'll end with this.
Celebrate this and all holidays responsibly. Slainte!
St. Patrick was a 5th century Christian bishop in Ireland, where he is now the patron saint. His life and death involve a lot of religion which I don't want to get into, including symbols of snakes and clovers. Needless to say, Patrick is clearly identified with Irish religious history and national identity.
Currently, St. Patrick's Day, March 17, is celebrated as a day of drinking and merry-making, so I'll end with this.
Celebrate this and all holidays responsibly. Slainte!
Friday, March 1, 2013
March Mead-ness
As part of my "Febrewary" series, I wanted to share a mead recipe I came across. There's only a couple of ingredients, commonly available at any grocery store, and the yeast does all the work.
So the recipe is three pounds of honey, half a cylinder of raisins, one orange, one packet of bread yeast, and almost a gallon of water. This fits in a one gallon fermenter. You will also need three bottles of wine.
Like any fermentation, the choice of ingredients will strongly influence the outcome. In this recipe, the water, honey, and yeast you use have the most pull. I use tap water. The municipal water supply here is heavy, but I like to think that particular blend of minerals and metals gives a unique character to my brew that can't be copied. Mesquite, clover, and alfalfa are the most common honey varieties here, along with house blends from some of the local apiaries. I specified generic bread yeast because this is supposed to be a simple recipe; most grocery stores don't stock brewer's yeast.
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| Almost mead |
Sanitize all the things
The first step is, obviously, sanitize everything. Making a lambic (yeast wrangled from the wild) mead could be a fun bucket list activity but that's not today's goal. I use a no-rinse sanitizer available at any brewing supply house. Do your fermenter, cap, and airlock. Also do scissors, a knife and cutting board, the outside of the yeast packet, a funnel, and a beaker. There's no brew stage so you won't be sanitizing your siphon, hose, or bottle filler here.Like any fermentation, the choice of ingredients will strongly influence the outcome. In this recipe, the water, honey, and yeast you use have the most pull. I use tap water. The municipal water supply here is heavy, but I like to think that particular blend of minerals and metals gives a unique character to my brew that can't be copied. Mesquite, clover, and alfalfa are the most common honey varieties here, along with house blends from some of the local apiaries. I specified generic bread yeast because this is supposed to be a simple recipe; most grocery stores don't stock brewer's yeast.
Rise and Shine
Next step is to wake up the yeast so it's ready to ferment. Fill your sanitized beaker with a quarter cup of warm water and stir in the yeast. This will activate the dormant yeast and get it ready for work.
Cut and Run
Fill the fermenter about a third of the way with water. Peel and cut up the orange and dump it and the raisins into the fermenter. Pour in the honey; this is where the funnel comes in handy. Now pour in the activated yeast and fill the fermenter the rest of the way with water. Install the cap and airlock per the included instructions and place the fermenter somewhere warm and dark. I leave mine on the kitchen counter with a dish towel over it.
Now comes the hard part. Sit back and let the yeast do all the work for two or three weeks. Drink the wine you bought and keep the empty bottles. When the airlock stops bubbling, the yeast has eaten all that sugar, turned it into alcohol, and gone back to sleep. It is now bottling day.
Sanitize all the things, again
Sanitize the two or three empty wine bottles you've accumulated along with stoppers. Also, sanitize your auto siphon, hose, and bottle filler. Following the instructions for the siphon, hose, and filler, transfer the mead from the fermenter to the bottles. Or, since the fermenter is small enough to pick up, just pour it into the bottles through a sanitized funnel. Doing it that way, with a coffee filter in the funnel, can improve the clarity of the final product. I kind of like the unfiltered style and the siphon won't transfer much goop anyway.
Enjoy the fruits of you labor
I like to let my bottled mead sit in the refrigerator for at least a week before decanting but it is ready to drink now. So invite your fellow vikings to join you at your hall and tell epic poems over a couple flagons. Enjoy!
Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Bottling Day
I've started a series of articles on homebrewing. I'm calling it "Febrewary" because I'm clever like that. In our previous episode, I shared a beer bread recipe to use up some extra supplies that came in the homebrewing kit. In this episode, the yeast is done fermenting and it's time to bottle the beer.
Now just plop in a fizz drop and cap the bottle. Don't worry, the beer is still flat at this point so it won't go all Menthos and Coke when you put in the drops. I usually get around 9 or 10 bottles from a gallon fermenter.
At this point, you're pretty much done. Set the bottles out of the way for another two weeks of conditioning. Don't put the bottles in the refrigerator yet; remember, we need the yeast to work just a little bit more to condition the beer. Remember to clean all your brewing equipment. The residue has the perfect conditions for life. It is the proverbial microbial soup.
Sanitize Everything
First things first, sanitize all of your equipment. You'll need your dozen empty bottles, bottle caps, auto-siphon, hose, and bottle filler. You'll also need the capper and conditioning sugar fizz drops. This is why it's important to sanitize all the gear; we're reactivating the yeast with another dose of sugar. The beer will get a little more alcohol content and it will get its carbonation in the bottle.
Flow Master
Connect the auto-siphon to the bottle filler as you did on brew day. Remove the airlock and threaded stopper from the fermenter and insert the siphon. Operate it per the instructions, filling each bottle in turn. I like to fill to about a thumb's width below the mouth of the bottle. That gets you a consistent volume for a more professional appearance.
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| Go with the flow |
Drop the beat
At this point, you're pretty much done. Set the bottles out of the way for another two weeks of conditioning. Don't put the bottles in the refrigerator yet; remember, we need the yeast to work just a little bit more to condition the beer. Remember to clean all your brewing equipment. The residue has the perfect conditions for life. It is the proverbial microbial soup.
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| Company! Ah-ten-HUT! |
Friends with benefits
It helps to have a friend stop by to lend a hand or two. Operating the siphon and bottle filler takes two hands, especially when you add swapping bottles. The bottle capper will also occupy at least both hands. Then add in operating a camera for publishing this to Blogger and you can quickly run out of hands. Set aside a couple bottles for the friend and you'll have a ready assistant for the next brew day. See you in two weeks!
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Beer Bread
I've started a series of articles on homebrewing. I'm calling it "Febrewary" because I'm clever like that. In our previous episode, we had our brew day. In this episode, I share a simple beer bread recipe to use up the other half of the yeast packet.
The dough
Three cups flour, three tablespoons sugar, three teaspoons salt, the rest of the brew day yeast, and enough water to turn it into dough. While the wort is boiling for 45 minutes is a good time to start on this. Mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and then start adding water until the dough is sticky. Set it aside to rise. Come back to the dough after you transfer the wort into the fermenter. Lay this out on a pizza pan and put in the over at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. Go clean up from brew day and the bread should be done.
The bread
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| What? You never seen bread before? |
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Brew Day
I've started an article series on homebrewing your own beer. I called it "Febrewary" because I'm clever like that. In our last episode, I covered some of the basics of starting to brew your own beer at home.
Now install the threaded stopper and airlock onto the fermenter and put it in a quiet corner. The yeast will do their thing converting sugar to alcohol and the positive pressure in the airlock will release carbon dioxide while keeping other bacteria out of the mix. In roughly two weeks, the yeast will be done and CO2 release will slow or stop completely.
The kit arrived, now what?
Okay, this is easy. Just follow the instructions. For brew day, you'll need your kettle, scissors, fermenter, threaded stopper, airlock, siphon, hose, beaker, a big spoon, the recipe kit, and sanitizer.
Sanitize all the things
The first step in any brewing operation is to sanitize everything. EVERYTHING! We're dealing with yeast here, a living organism. We spent good money on a particular species that is specially chosen to give us good results in our recipe. Don't screw it up by letting some other bacteria species get in there.
Use the no-rinse sanitizer that came in the kit; one tablespoon of sanitizer into one gallon of water. Don't drain this because you might need to sanitize something again later.
Use the no-rinse sanitizer that came in the kit; one tablespoon of sanitizer into one gallon of water. Don't drain this because you might need to sanitize something again later.
All clear
This next stage will vary based on your beer recipe. For this demonstration, I've gone with the Northern Brewer's Irish Red. As per this recipe, bring one and a quarter gallons of water to a boil and steep the specialty grains in the included mesh bag.
Many breweries say that the water they use in their operation affects the flavor of their brew and they're right. You can use specially filtered water but I use plain old tap water. The local municipal water supply here is a bit heavy but I like to think that particular blend of minerals and metals give my brew a flavor that can't be copied. But the truth is that if it's okay to drink then it's okay to brew with.
If you do garden composting like I do, you can put the grains in the compost after they're done steeping. After this, stir in the malt extract and the hops. This is a beginner recipe kit so it uses extract, but as your skills improve you can switch to all-grain recipes if you'd like.
Many breweries say that the water they use in their operation affects the flavor of their brew and they're right. You can use specially filtered water but I use plain old tap water. The local municipal water supply here is a bit heavy but I like to think that particular blend of minerals and metals give my brew a flavor that can't be copied. But the truth is that if it's okay to drink then it's okay to brew with.
If you do garden composting like I do, you can put the grains in the compost after they're done steeping. After this, stir in the malt extract and the hops. This is a beginner recipe kit so it uses extract, but as your skills improve you can switch to all-grain recipes if you'd like.
Wake up, ye beasties
In this Irish Red recipe, the extract and hops boil for 45 minutes without adding more ingredients. Lets use this time to activate the yeast. For some reason, the recipe only uses half the yeast it comes with. Obviously, it's the way it comes from the supplier so save half for beer bread and pour the rest into a quarter cup of warm water in your sanitized beaker.Begin transferrence
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| Clowns to the left, jokers to the right |
After the wort (that's unfermented beer) has boiled, we need to cool it down to add the yeast. The yeast likes its water about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. We'll do this with an ice bath. One basin in your sink is still full of sanitizing water so fill the other side with water and ice and put the kettle in.
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| The general idea |
After the wort has cooled, it's time to add the yeast and move it to the fermenter. Pour the yeast into the wort, either in the kettle before the transfer or into the fermenter afterwards. Drain the ice bath, lift the kettle onto the counter, and put the fermenter in the sink. That difference in altitude will help the siphon. Follow the instructions to assemble and operate the siphon.
Transfer complete
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| pop lock |
Kick up the jams
All that's left is to clean everything and put it away. Now kick back with the craft brew you bought when you were gathering supplies so you have empty bottles for bottling day. Drink responsibly and enjoy!
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Gathering Supplies
I've started an article series on homebrewing your own beer. I've called it "Febrewary" because I'm clever like that.
Is it legal?
Yes, homebrewing is legal! This wasn't always the case of course. In 1920, one of the worst laws to ever be put on the books arrived in the form of the Eighteenth Amendment which, along with the Volstead Act, lead to the dark times known as Prohibition. All production of alcohol was illegal, leading to massive job loss and the rise of organized crime. The Twenty-first Amendment, in 1933, saved what was left of the American beer industry but the damage was already done.
While Prohibition had ended, it still wasn't officially legal to brew your own beer yet. Wine making was legal but through an omission, "and/or beer" never made it into law. We had to wait until 1979 for the Federal Register to be corrected and allow beer production.
Is it expensive?
No, not at all. Many starter kits, with everything you need for a first batch of beer, are available at affordable prices. You don't have to buy the kit I linked to but that's the one I have so that's what I'll be using for this demonstration. In addition to the equipment in a starter kit like the fermenter and capper, you'll need to add your own kettle and a few common kitchen implements.
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| Everything you see here |
What do I need?
I started with that kit linked above. It includes the fermenter, threaded stopper and three-piece airlock, sanitizer, auto-siphon, and hose. Also included in the kit was a bottle filler, capper, and bottle caps. Of course, this kit also includes your first recipe. I went with the Irish Red. I really only had to add my own kettle, scissors, and beaker.
Is that all?
Not yet, just one more thing, but you'll like this. You need to get a dozen empty beer bottles. You can buy them from your brewing supply house but there's a better way. Get a dozen-bottle variety case of your favorite craft beer. You see where this is going. Drink it responsibly between brewing day and bottling day. Soak the empties in warm water to remove the labels; brown glass bottles with non-twist-off caps are preferred. Now you have everything you need for your first batch. Enjoy!
Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Products featured or linked here are used as examples only, without endorsement or commercial consideration.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
FeBREWary
I've been homebrewing my own beer and mead for a few batches now and I though "Febrewary" would make a good play on words for a new month-long series on homebrewing. Yes, I am easily amused by my own cleverness.
So this article is just an introduction to the series and a way to increase my post count without really trying. I'm an engineer, I'm all about getting a solution without really trying.
So this article is just an introduction to the series and a way to increase my post count without really trying. I'm an engineer, I'm all about getting a solution without really trying.
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