John's Party Brew Day #2

We did the second big brew day for John's summer party on March 22, 2008. This was another two batch day and we started nice and early. The first beer we brewed was a hoppy red ale from Jamil Zainasheff's book, Brewing Classic Styles. I am very interested to try this beer, as the description sounds wonderful. It should also work really well for John's party, as the its hoppy nature should pair well with the spicy seafood he serves. This beer maxed out the my mash tun, so I had to cut back on the base grain by a pound, as my mash tun can only take a total of 14 pounds. The brew session went very well and we hit all of our numbers.

The second beer we made was an India Pale Ale (IPA), also from Jamil's book. This batch called for four ounces of hops, which made it a bit pricey in during the hop shortage we are currently experiencing. But hey, John bought the ingredients, so I have nothing to complain about. The brewing process went very well and we again hit all of our numbers. The only problem with both of these brews is that the large amount of hops in each one meant that we could transfer less wort to the fermentors, as there was a large amount of hop and break material in the bottom of the kettle. This will mean we make about a six-pack less of each beer, but the beer should be of good quality.

The beer from the previous brew session was still finishing fermenting in my tool room (the coolest room in the house, which makes it ideal for fermenting ales, as it stays in the mid 60s F most of the year). So, this is the first time I have ever had four carboys of beer fermenting in the same room. It made for a cool picture.

John and I finished brewing just before dark, just in time to sample some of the brisket that I had been smoking all day long. The smell had been making our mouths water through out the brew session, and it turned out as good as it smelled. Yum!

Deckbuilder Dunkleweizen

I brewed this batch of beer for my good friend, Jason, who was a huge help in finishing the deck where I spend most of my brew days. It was a favorite of his wife, Crystal, and I was happy to provide them with a little thank you. The fact that it made three extra bottles that I could keep for myself is just an added bonus.

The beer is a very dark amber with red highlights. It has a decent off-white head that dissipates rather quickly. It smells faintly of banana and some clove, which is a characteristic of the German yeast and the wheat malt. As for taste, I just love this beer. Love, love, love! It is a malt explosion on your tongue. It is not sweet, as there is a definite difference between sweet and malty. There are some biscuity flavors in there, as well as faint hints of toast. The flavor has layers, with malted dry chocolate at the front, followed by the biscuit and toast, then something vaguely like dark honey, and finally the zip of spice that you expect from the German yeast. The beer finishes dry, which makes it very drinkable.

I will need to make some more of this beer soon, lest my wife, who also loves this beer, will send me out to sleep on the deck . . .

John's Party Brew Day #1

March 15th was the first brew day for the annual John Crab Party, that is held near the 4th of July. Three years ago was the first time I brewed for John's party and it was a whole lot of fun. Each year we have stepped up the number of batches we make for the party until we are maxing out this year - 5 batches for the party (the maximum number of taps John actually has) and 2 batches for his family reunion. It gives me a chance to brew with John, which is fun, and an excuse to make more beer.

The first brew day was a double day, so we started early at around 9:30 am. We made two batches of oatmeal stout, which was the hands-down favorite from last year. John wanted to try one on a nitrogen tap (he is an engineer and the problems presented by nitrogen taps and their finicky nature excite him). It was a beautiful day to be out on the deck, if a little windy. The temperature was in the low 60s and spring is definitely in the air. We finished the first batch mid-afternoon and had the second batch done before dark. We cleaned up just in time for a bowl of my wife's awesome chili and some fresh bread, as well as dinner and a nice evening with some out-of-town guests who were visiting for the weekend.

It was a great brew day.

I NEVER Want to See a Bottle Again!

I did a marathon bottling session today. That was for three batches - pilsner, dunkleweizen, and blackberry mead - which took six hours. I removed labels from about 70 bottles then sanitized and filled 144 of them. I had delayed bottling the batches for a number of reasons and this was the first chance I got.

I really understand why so many homebrewers want to keg. Why spend six hours cleaning and filling bottles when you can do it in 30 minutes and not even have to wait the two weeks for bottle conditioning. The cost is a bit of an issue (probably at least $150 for the keg, fittings, and the CO2 tank) and then I need to fit it in a refrigerator.

But, it might be looking into though, especially after today . . .

CAMRA Update

Well, it has been a while since I last posted, but I have big news on our homebrew club. We have decided on a name - Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale (CAMRA). The CRABS name did not work out because there is a group in Maryland that already has that name. We had our second meeting last night and had 23 people come out. The bar where we are meeting was full to standing room only. We are very excited about where this club will go and the interest people have shown in it.

If you want to learn more about CAMRA, head over to our website: http://www.cvillebrewing.com

More information will be forthcoming and I hope to remember to bring my camera to take some pictures next time.

Spiced Winter Ale = Gushy Mess

As it turned out, my spiced winter ale was a gusher. This beer was my first infected beer in a while. All of the bottles that we drank after a month and a half or so had a slight aftertaste and you could hear the head "sparkle" as you poured it. Further, if you did not serve it cold, very cold, it would gush. The wild yeast must have gotten in there prior to bottling, due to the pervasive nature of the infection (i.e. it was in every bottle). I think it was because I did not cool the wort fast enough to pitch quickly and I did not aerate enough, so my beer yeast got a really slow start.



To clarify what infection means if you are not familiar with it in a brewing sense, wild strains of yeast or other microbes get into your beer. Because beer is acidic and alcoholic, no pathogens (stuff that can really hurt you) live in beer. However, infections usually have off flavors that can make the beer almost undrinkable. In extreme cases, they make the beer smell and taste like newly opened band-aids or old socks. They also ferment sugars that normal beer yeast cannot, which super-carbonates the beer and makes it gush. This makes a mess and can lead to "bottle bombs." In the case of the spiced winter ale, the off-flavor was minimal, but you could taste it. The real issue was the gushing nature of it.



So, for next time, I have to make sure I cool the wort quicker and aerate more. I got an aeration kit from Northern Brewer, which should help. I also learned how to link my wort chiller into an ice bath using a cheap pond pump, as shown on the latest Basic Brewing DVD. I think these things will really help.

Bohemian Pilsner

Well, I have begun the new year with my first lager-style fermentation. I have never "successfully" done a lager before. My one previous attempt was to make a marzen (or Oktoberfest, as it is more commonly known) when I had no idea that you needed fermentation temperature control. The beer never really fermented, and the resulting beer, which really was more of a wort, was consumed by a friend who helped make the beer and felt guilty that it did not work out alright. It was in no way Sam's fault, as I really had no idea what I was doing.

I bought a temperature controller with some of my Christmas money and hooked it up to my beer fridge. This controller is basically a thermostat that you plug your fridge into and then the thermostat cuts the power on and off. This allows me to set the fermentation temperature to around 50 degrees, which is important to minimize dactyl (butterscotch flavor) production in lager and pilsner-style beer.

Also new to my beer process this year is active aeration using an aquarium pump and stainless steel airstone and my home made stir plate for yeast starters. The aeration really helps fermentation start faster and minimize wild yeast propagation. The yeast starter does the same thing by increasing the amount of active yeast you pitch into the wort. More on the stir plate, which was built out of a cigar box and spare computer parts, in anther post.

One of the other complicating factors in fermenting a lager or pilsner is that it takes about a week to 10 days to ferment and then another 4 weeks to "lager" in the fridge. So, we will see how it goes. Stay tuned for more information . . .