Some interesting and useful links:
IBU calculator
Grain profiles and other cheat sheets
Bonus Update!
Blackacre Butte #2 is bubbling every 2 seconds about 36 hours after brewing. Yay!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Porter Redux
Yesterday I brewed with the exact same porter recipe again (we'll call it Blackacre Butte #2) to see the difference that just the brewing method made. And, boy howdy, will it be different.
For one thing, the original gravity of the wort was 1.050 this time, 67% higher than the last batch. This was due to the very successful use of my new mash/lauter tun, which did not leak at all and which made mashing and sparging a breeze. Secondly, I took about 1/4 of the wort and aerated it heavily before pouring the rest of the wort into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. I don't think skipping this really hurt me on the last batch, but I thought I'd at least try it.
This time around, I'm fermenting in a 6-gallon plastic carboy rather than the plastic bucket I used last time. The homebrew store was out of 6-gallon glass carboys and the guy there said the plastic ones were actually quite nice to use, so I went that route rather than wait for them to resupply with the glass ones.
Lessons learned:
- The filter that came with the funnel I used to pour the wort into the fermenter was too fine a mesh and easily clogged up with sediment. I ended up using a collander placed in the funnel for the last bit; I think I will just start with that piece of equipment next time.
- Cooling down 21 quarts of boiling wort takes a long freaking time. Before I get a wort chiller, I think I need to experiment with just getting a bunch of ice at the store to use in the ice bath I make for the wort.
For one thing, the original gravity of the wort was 1.050 this time, 67% higher than the last batch. This was due to the very successful use of my new mash/lauter tun, which did not leak at all and which made mashing and sparging a breeze. Secondly, I took about 1/4 of the wort and aerated it heavily before pouring the rest of the wort into the fermenter and pitching the yeast. I don't think skipping this really hurt me on the last batch, but I thought I'd at least try it.
This time around, I'm fermenting in a 6-gallon plastic carboy rather than the plastic bucket I used last time. The homebrew store was out of 6-gallon glass carboys and the guy there said the plastic ones were actually quite nice to use, so I went that route rather than wait for them to resupply with the glass ones.
Lessons learned:
- The filter that came with the funnel I used to pour the wort into the fermenter was too fine a mesh and easily clogged up with sediment. I ended up using a collander placed in the funnel for the last bit; I think I will just start with that piece of equipment next time.
- Cooling down 21 quarts of boiling wort takes a long freaking time. Before I get a wort chiller, I think I need to experiment with just getting a bunch of ice at the store to use in the ice bath I make for the wort.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
A Tun o' Fun
Yesterday Emily and I bottled the Blackacre Butte #1. It tasted the same as when we racked it and had the same final gravity of 1.006. Primed with 3/4 cup corn sugar dissolved into a pint of water and bottled; ended up with 21 22oz bottles. We'll see in a week or two how it has shaped up.
Today I built a mash tun using these instructions:
Cheap & Easy Mash Lauter Tun
I used a 5-gallon cooler rather than a 10-gallon; in hindsight, the 10 gallon should have been what I got. Also, the parts didn't fit together quite as well for me as they did for him, and after 30 minutes full of water it leaked a drop or two; I'm going to go ahead and brew with it once to see what happens, and then maybe update the design. I used the hose clamps which in his implementation corroded after a couple of uses; I'll have to see how they last for me.
Lesson learned: I need a Dremel kit. Using a hacksaw to cut apart that stainless steel braid sleeve was a big pain and left me with these insanely frayed edges. I think a rotary tool would have helped here.
Today I built a mash tun using these instructions:
Cheap & Easy Mash Lauter Tun
I used a 5-gallon cooler rather than a 10-gallon; in hindsight, the 10 gallon should have been what I got. Also, the parts didn't fit together quite as well for me as they did for him, and after 30 minutes full of water it leaked a drop or two; I'm going to go ahead and brew with it once to see what happens, and then maybe update the design. I used the hose clamps which in his implementation corroded after a couple of uses; I'll have to see how they last for me.
Lesson learned: I need a Dremel kit. Using a hacksaw to cut apart that stainless steel braid sleeve was a big pain and left me with these insanely frayed edges. I think a rotary tool would have helped here.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Survey Says...
It's not too bad!
Today I racked my porter clone (hereafter "Blackacre Butte Porter") into the secondary fermenter and sampled the results. For flat, warm beer, it was mighty tasty. The hops:malt ratio is a little higher than I sought, but this can be attributed to the incompetent mashing and sparging of last week. The gravity at this stage is 1.006, leaving me with about 3.2% ABV -- my beer is safe to drink in Utah!
The lesson I learned today was: don't ferment in a plastic bucket; ferment in a glass carboy. Why? Apparently when I sealed the lid on the bucket, I sealed it right tight, so when I went to open it I needed a pair of vice grips to bend the plastic lip of the lid to get the damn thing off. The glass will be a teeny tiny less convenient when filling the first time, but other than that it will be the same as the bucket.
Next week: bottling!
Today I racked my porter clone (hereafter "Blackacre Butte Porter") into the secondary fermenter and sampled the results. For flat, warm beer, it was mighty tasty. The hops:malt ratio is a little higher than I sought, but this can be attributed to the incompetent mashing and sparging of last week. The gravity at this stage is 1.006, leaving me with about 3.2% ABV -- my beer is safe to drink in Utah!
The lesson I learned today was: don't ferment in a plastic bucket; ferment in a glass carboy. Why? Apparently when I sealed the lid on the bucket, I sealed it right tight, so when I went to open it I needed a pair of vice grips to bend the plastic lip of the lid to get the damn thing off. The glass will be a teeny tiny less convenient when filling the first time, but other than that it will be the same as the bucket.
Next week: bottling!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Porter Disorder
Today my first brewing project went off despite several hitches. I started off with a recipe for a Black Butte Porter clone gleaned from a magazine at my local homebrew store, Homebrew Heaven. The guy there suggested a slight modification to make the beer darker, and based on the final color of the wort I think it was a good call. The final product tasted sweet and well-balanced before I put it into the fermenter, so I'm cautiously optimistic that it will turn out drinkable.
My first problem presented itself about halfway through steeping the grains. I noticed that there was a fair amount of grain floating around in the wort, which I initially attributed to the fact that I was sort of pushing on the bag with the stirring spoon when I stirred. However, when I pulled out the bag to sparge the remaining grain, Emily (who was my gracious brewing assistant today) noticed a gaping hole in the bottom. So, some jostling around and a large mess later, the bag and most of the grain were out of the kettle; I attempted to sparge some of it through a strainer but because I was distracted I used cold water rather than hot, thus reducing the potential sugars I could get from the malt.
My next problem was that I did not have enough water in the initial boil, so that by the time the hour boil was complete I only had about 12 quarts of wort left. To bring the total amount up to five gallons, I added two more gallons of water at about room temperature. This may have been too much, in light of how low the original gravity measurement ended up being (1.030). The cooler water may also have brought the total temperature down too low for the yeast to get a good start; the wort was about 75° when I put it in the fermenter, so I can't imagine the final temperature was much below about 68-70 (though I failed to take the temperature at this point).
So, in the end we'll see. My guess is that I will end up with a relatively low alcohol porter with a nice color and flavor. I recognize this is a best-case scenario, but I have hope.
The Recipe:
10 lb. 2-row pale malt
9 oz. chocolate malt
10 oz. crystal malt (60 °L)
8 oz. roasted barley*
4 AAU (9.1g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
4.25 AAU (19.9g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 30 min
4.5 AAU (23.3g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
I also used an Irish moss tablet at 15 minutes.
Lessons learned:
1. I bought 2 2.5 gal jugs of spring water so as to avoid municipal chlorine, fluoride, etc., but I really ought to have bought 3 as a safeguard. That third jug would be great for sparging.
2. Our current kitchen scale is a baker's scale and only resolves to 5-gram increments. This meant my hops measurements were not as accurate as I would have hoped.
3. The nylon bag method of steeping the grain doesn't seem to work for me. I need to either do a false-bottom bucket method or maybe use a double-boiler; I will have to think about this one.
* This was the change to the original recipe recommended by the beer store guy.
My first problem presented itself about halfway through steeping the grains. I noticed that there was a fair amount of grain floating around in the wort, which I initially attributed to the fact that I was sort of pushing on the bag with the stirring spoon when I stirred. However, when I pulled out the bag to sparge the remaining grain, Emily (who was my gracious brewing assistant today) noticed a gaping hole in the bottom. So, some jostling around and a large mess later, the bag and most of the grain were out of the kettle; I attempted to sparge some of it through a strainer but because I was distracted I used cold water rather than hot, thus reducing the potential sugars I could get from the malt.
My next problem was that I did not have enough water in the initial boil, so that by the time the hour boil was complete I only had about 12 quarts of wort left. To bring the total amount up to five gallons, I added two more gallons of water at about room temperature. This may have been too much, in light of how low the original gravity measurement ended up being (1.030). The cooler water may also have brought the total temperature down too low for the yeast to get a good start; the wort was about 75° when I put it in the fermenter, so I can't imagine the final temperature was much below about 68-70 (though I failed to take the temperature at this point).
So, in the end we'll see. My guess is that I will end up with a relatively low alcohol porter with a nice color and flavor. I recognize this is a best-case scenario, but I have hope.
The Recipe:
10 lb. 2-row pale malt
9 oz. chocolate malt
10 oz. crystal malt (60 °L)
8 oz. roasted barley*
4 AAU (9.1g @ 12.5% AA) Galena hops @ 60 min
4.25 AAU (19.9g @ 6% AA) Cascade hops @ 30 min
4.5 AAU (23.3g @ 5.5% AA) Tettnanger hops @ 5 min
Wyeast 1318 - London Ale III
I also used an Irish moss tablet at 15 minutes.
Lessons learned:
1. I bought 2 2.5 gal jugs of spring water so as to avoid municipal chlorine, fluoride, etc., but I really ought to have bought 3 as a safeguard. That third jug would be great for sparging.
2. Our current kitchen scale is a baker's scale and only resolves to 5-gram increments. This meant my hops measurements were not as accurate as I would have hoped.
3. The nylon bag method of steeping the grain doesn't seem to work for me. I need to either do a false-bottom bucket method or maybe use a double-boiler; I will have to think about this one.
* This was the change to the original recipe recommended by the beer store guy.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
An Odyssey Begins...
I've been batting around the idea of doing some homebrew for awhile now. A couple good friends of mine have made some really great beers in their kitchens and I admit I am kind of jealous. I have been a lover of good beers (and even not-so-good ones) for a long time now, so I think I am primed to take the plunge into crafting my own.
My main goal is to put together a really good porter that I can have on hand at all times; I want to start with a couple of basic recipes and then branch out into experimentation. My plan is to blog the whole process for my own edification so that I can see what I've done and decide where I'm going. I am very much looking forward to the point where I am putting together arcane formulae over my steaming cauldron of wort, worrying over a quarter ounce of this malt or a dash of those hops. Wish me luck!
My main goal is to put together a really good porter that I can have on hand at all times; I want to start with a couple of basic recipes and then branch out into experimentation. My plan is to blog the whole process for my own edification so that I can see what I've done and decide where I'm going. I am very much looking forward to the point where I am putting together arcane formulae over my steaming cauldron of wort, worrying over a quarter ounce of this malt or a dash of those hops. Wish me luck!
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