hello, my friends.

 

The Black IPA (which actually ended up as dark as I wanted) was bottled last night.

My English Pale stopped bubbling a few days ago so I will rack it to the secondaries this weekend (2 gal are going into a carboy, 1 gal is going to be dry hopped in a jug).  They will be ready just in time for Tim to help me bottle.

 

I am not sure what is up next.  I have a 1 gallon rye kit sitting around, so I guess I will brew that next time I am bored.

Do you bother with gravity readings?  I'd be tempted not to with batches that small.

Got a boil going right now.

 

Frangelico Oaked Brown Ale

  

Want.

So it has been a couple of years since I brewed my first stove top batch and I have changed a few things since then.  Why not do another walkthrough?

There are two significant changes.  First, I upped the batch size a quart so that I get at least a case of beer.  11 quarts gives me 25 - 28 bottles usually.  Second, instead of doing a mashout I take first runnings and do one batch sparge.  The reason for this is that for higher gravity batches there was not enough capacity for the grains and all of the water.  The sparge really does not add much time anyway.

I do a modified brew in the bag.  Instead of mashing with the bag in the kettle, I mash then pour everything in a 5 gallon food grade bucket that is lined with a bag.  I got the bucket and bag from Lowes.  The bag is a paint strainer bag.  Nice thing about them is they fit perfectly in a 5 gallon bucket.

So step one is to measure out my water.  I have a standard equation that gets me in the ballpark every time.  Batch size plus grain absorption plus boil off.  For grain absorption I use half a quart per pound.  Boil off is three quarts an hour (I did a test run with plain water to come up with that figure).  For this example, a brown ale, I am using 6 lb, 12 oz of grain.  To make my life easier I rounded to 7.  Also for this batch I am doing 12 quarts as I am doing a secondary ferment (I usually do not) and I want little head space in the 3 gallon carboy.

So 12 + 3.5 + 3 = 18.5 quarts total water.  I mash at 1.5 qt a pound so that is 10.5 quarts for the mash.  I heat my strike water and crush my grains.  In order to keep the mash temperature I mash in the oven.  Preheat to the lowest setting then shut it off when the pot goes in.  Here is the pot going into the oven....

While the mash is going on I measure out hops and get ready for the sparge.  I start heating the sparge water with 10 - 15 minutes left in the mash.  I shoot for around 170 degrees, somewhere in that ballpark.  I line the 5 gallon bucket with the paint strainer bag and have another smaller bucket with an upside down colander.  Once the mash is done I pour it into the bucket.  It splatters less if you are quick about it.

I pull the bag out letting drip a bit.  Then I place it on top of the colander.  I take a bowl with a pot holder and push down on the bag to squeeze more wort out.  The pot gets rinsed out with water, using a paper towel for anything stuck on, then my first runnings go into it, on the flame.  I put the bag back into the bigger bucket and pour the sparge water in, giving it a stir with a mash paddle.  Pulling the bag out is the same as with the first runnings.

I found that a 20 quart kettle is not really 20 quarts, had I known I would have gone 24.  For a 12 quart batch if I pour everything it it will fit but will spill over during the hot break.  So I hold back a couple of quarts and gradually add them in after the hot break.  Works good enough.  Here is the boil.

While the boil is going on I dump the grains in my compost bin, then rinse the bag and buckets.

Once I am done with the boil I do an ice bath in the sink.  I have found that I save on ice if I do a couple of straight water baths first.  Doing it this way I never have had the ice completely melt.

I chill to the upper 50's.  While chilling I mix up some sanitizer.  I soak the bag in it and use the bag to wipe the inside of the 5 gallon bucket.  I dump out the sanitizer and wring the bag out, then line the bucket with the bag.  After wiping down the outside of the kettle I dump everything into the bucket  Then after rinsing my hands with sanitizer I pull the bag out.  The bag clogs a little, so instead of squeezing I rock it back and forth.  That seems to work better.  At the very end I give it a squeeze.  Now it is time for a gravity reading.

Then I pitch the yeast and seal the bucket up.  Notice that a standard ale pale lid fits fine.  I drill a hole where the o-ring is and use a stopper for the air lock.  Works much better than those stupid o-rings.

You should be able to see that I am almost to 3.5 gallons (calibrating the bucket makes life easier).  That is OK.  Given the yeast cake and a gravity reading I will be right around 3 gallons when I rack to the secondary.

Here are the oak cubes and the Frangelico.  They will go into the secondary as well.

For bottling smaller batches I use a calculator to get the amount of sugar to use.  I always weigh my sugar as not all styles should be carbed the same.  Also I took one of those smaller (4 gallon?) buckets, drilled a hole for a spigot, and use that to bottle.  Much easier to handle.

I think that covers everything.  Pretty easy to brew a case of beer, don't you think?

You need to increase capacity.

 

And distribution.

Unfortunately with the impending surgery I must suspend operations for several weeks.  No new brewing for a while.  I usually do not brew on a Monday but needed to get this in.

I have a couple of batches in fermenters but I can get helpers with the racking and bottling.  Won't need to do that for at least three weeks.

 

Unfortunately with the impending surgery I must suspend operations for several weeks.  No new brewing for a while.  I usually do not brew on a Monday but needed to get this in.

 

No excuses! HTFU!

I didn't put enough beer in the tube.  It was a nice reminder that I am still learning.

I used to do this, then I got the idea to put the hydrometer in the tube first and fill until it starts floating.  Hasn't happened since.

Last time I was at the LHBS I stocked up on some hops for SMaSH's.  Once I can move around OK I am going to do one with Vienna and Northern Brewer.  I am going to mix it up and use a Belgian yeast.  Should make a nice Belgian Pale Ale.  I have some Mosiac and Centennial hops set aside for SMaSH's as well.

Mosaic was on my short list of potential hops.  But I am going a bit more outside of the box for this SMaSH.

 

I have not tried making any Belgian beers yet.  I think I am supposed to help Tim make one in May.  Hopefully he will have made some room in his fridge by then.

Try the Southern Tier 2XONE.  Those are Mosaic hops in there.  Commercial SMaSH beer,

I have had good luck with Belgians.  Mash low, 148 - 150 degrees.  Once vigorous fermentation starts don't be afraid to ramp up the temperature into the 70's.  Belgians are all about the yeast flavors.

Yesterday was National Homebrewing Day. We made the base for an Oude Bruin, a brown sour ale.

Oude Bruin Recipe

Grain
Pilsner (BE) 4.0 lb
Munich - Light 10L (US) 2.5 lb
Vienna (US) 1.75 lb
Flaked Wheat 1.5 lb
Flaked Corn 1.0 lb
CaraMunich (BE) 10.0 oz
Aromatic (BE) 10.0 oz
Special B (BE) 10.0 oz
Coffee Malt (UK) 5.0 oz

Hops
Motueka 0.8 oz

We will ferment this in primary with WYeast Ringwood Ale XL and a funky East Coast Yeast blend called Bug Country. Bug Country contains twenty different organisms including various wild yeasts and lactic bacteria. We supplemented this with the dregs from a Liefman's lambic, an Upland sour and a Rivertown sour.

It will sit in the primary fermenting vessels through the Summer, and then we will transfer it to a Corsair Whiskey barrel that most recently saw a wee heavy and load it with whatever yummy fruit is in season. Maybe peaches.