Sunday, April 6, 2008
First Brew followup
Fermentation really took off shortly after my last post. I had to set up a blow off tube in fact. The krausen has settled now and the airlock is back on and I have nearly constant bubbling. It is fascinating to watch the beer churning in the carboy!
Here is my recipe. (Note the rockin' 7.1% Alcohol by Volume, LOL)
Fermentables
I think I will bottle half of it with Cherry extract and see how that works out.
Here is my recipe. (Note the rockin' 7.1% Alcohol by Volume, LOL)
| 17D. Wheat Beer, Weizenbock | Extract |
|
|
|
|
| % Weight | Weight (lbs) | Grain | Gravity Points | Color |
| 38.4 % | 3.30 | Light Malt Extract Syrup | 24.9 | 1.5 |
| 38.4 % | 3.30 | Wheat Malt | 28.6 | 1.2 |
| 11.6 % | 1.00 | Light Dry Malt Extract | 10.0 | 0.4 |
| 11.6 % | 1.00 | Belgian Candi Sugar Amber | 10.0 | 16.7 |
| | 8.60 | | 73.5 | |
Hops
| % Wt | Weight (oz) | Hop | Form | AA% | AAU | Boil Time | Utilization | IBU |
| 50.0 % | 1.00 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 4.6 | 60 | 0.048 | 22.2 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 2.3 | 40 | 0.038 | 8.7 |
| 25.0 % | 0.50 | Willamette | Pellet | 4.6 | 2.3 | 5 | 0.009 | 2.0 |
| | 2.00 | | | | | | | 33.0 |
I think I will bottle half of it with Cherry extract and see how that works out.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Brewsday
I managed to finally get a batch of beer brewed. It was a long process and I made quite a few mistakes, but overall I think it went okay.
I decided to make a wheat ale. I have a 3.3 can of liquid wheat malt extract, a 3.3 Light LME and about a pound of golden light malt extract added to 2.5 gal of boiling water. I added 1 oz. of 4.6AA Willamette hops at 60 minutes left. After this I made my first mistake, I added the next .5 oz of Willamette hops at 40 minutes left instead of 30, not too major but a boost to the bitterness. Right after this I realized that I had not added the 1 pound of belgian candi sugar, so at the 30 min mark, it went in. This broke the boil for a minutes or two. To make up for the early hops I added the last .5 oz of Willamette at the 5 min mark instead of 10.
I took the OG and it was 1.072 which is pretty freaking high. I probably didn't need the DME or the candi, but I had read some things that they added to this style well, so we'll see.
Next I pitched the yeast as the wort was cooling. My starter from the previous night had fizzled, so I hydrated some dry active brewers yeast but misfollowed the directions slightly. I don't think it damaged the yeast though.
My major mistake is that I added my yeast soon after this, forgetting to take the wort temp. I figure it was in the high 80's when I pitched it, which is not very good. I really wanted to wait until the low 70's. I may have killed off some yeast there.
I originally had a blowoff tube attached to the bung on the carboy, but it was too cumbersome to set up in the space I have. When I was switching the blowoff tube to an airlock though, I almost pushed the cork all the way down completely through the neck into the beer. I still dont know how I am going to get it out, but it is bubbling every 15-30 seconds or so now.
One last thing though, it is considerably darker than I had hoped as well. We'll see if some of the color mellows during fermentation. I tasted the wort. It was pretty good actually. We'll see what it's like after I rack to secondary.
I decided to make a wheat ale. I have a 3.3 can of liquid wheat malt extract, a 3.3 Light LME and about a pound of golden light malt extract added to 2.5 gal of boiling water. I added 1 oz. of 4.6AA Willamette hops at 60 minutes left. After this I made my first mistake, I added the next .5 oz of Willamette hops at 40 minutes left instead of 30, not too major but a boost to the bitterness. Right after this I realized that I had not added the 1 pound of belgian candi sugar, so at the 30 min mark, it went in. This broke the boil for a minutes or two. To make up for the early hops I added the last .5 oz of Willamette at the 5 min mark instead of 10.
I took the OG and it was 1.072 which is pretty freaking high. I probably didn't need the DME or the candi, but I had read some things that they added to this style well, so we'll see.
Next I pitched the yeast as the wort was cooling. My starter from the previous night had fizzled, so I hydrated some dry active brewers yeast but misfollowed the directions slightly. I don't think it damaged the yeast though.
My major mistake is that I added my yeast soon after this, forgetting to take the wort temp. I figure it was in the high 80's when I pitched it, which is not very good. I really wanted to wait until the low 70's. I may have killed off some yeast there.
I originally had a blowoff tube attached to the bung on the carboy, but it was too cumbersome to set up in the space I have. When I was switching the blowoff tube to an airlock though, I almost pushed the cork all the way down completely through the neck into the beer. I still dont know how I am going to get it out, but it is bubbling every 15-30 seconds or so now.
One last thing though, it is considerably darker than I had hoped as well. We'll see if some of the color mellows during fermentation. I tasted the wort. It was pretty good actually. We'll see what it's like after I rack to secondary.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools
Well, I got myself this year. I mistakenly thought that I would receive my profit sharing check today since it is the first day of the quarter. April Fools! It's not coming til the 10th. After some calls this morning we managed to get the automatic payments put off so I don't bounce things, whew.
Then I got home and there was no cable, not even a signal. It turns out that the cable guys were here today to disconnect the apartment upstairs, but instead they disconnected the whole building. April Fools! I managed to thoroughly convince the cable rep that they screwed up and they needed to fix it tonight, instead of tomorrow like they told my wife. An hour later - wallah - cable and internet. Otherwise I would not be blogging right now.
So this year, the joke's on me.
I found a qoute today that strikes me as roguish so here -
Quotable Rogue:
Virtue is its own punishment.
- Aneurin Bevan
Then I got home and there was no cable, not even a signal. It turns out that the cable guys were here today to disconnect the apartment upstairs, but instead they disconnected the whole building. April Fools! I managed to thoroughly convince the cable rep that they screwed up and they needed to fix it tonight, instead of tomorrow like they told my wife. An hour later - wallah - cable and internet. Otherwise I would not be blogging right now.
So this year, the joke's on me.
I found a qoute today that strikes me as roguish so here -
Quotable Rogue:
Virtue is its own punishment.
- Aneurin Bevan
Monday, March 31, 2008
WTF/AFK?
I just spent about a week with very limited internet, so I am glad to be back!
Not too much has been going on. We got out for a little while this last weekend. It was nice seeing folks that I hadn't seen for a bit. I went through my drawers some and uncovered some long lost t-shirts. Otherwise it was a quiet weekend.
I am getting more excited with the warmer weather. I have had visions of fishing and grilling. It should be a lot more fun this summer with Heidi's sis living so close to us all. That reminds me that I have to go get my fishing license though!
I have also been really itching to try brewing my first batch of beer. I have been waiting to buy ingredients until I had a little bit of cash, which may not be anytime soon unfortunately. I think I am going to make a cherry wheat the first time out and hopefully it doesn't suck. If I manage to not kill it I will try a specialty for my father-in-law's birthday.
Speaking of homebrewing, I saw this article about archeobrews. I must admit that the Midas Touch sounds interesting. I have been sampling a lot of different types of brews recently. Schell's Maifest is probably the best of what I have sampled lately.
On the weightloss front, I am hanging at a solid 20 lb loss right now. I think I may have hit a small plateau, but it has only been a week, so i am not going to worry yet.
I hope everyone enjoys April Fool's Day.
Quotable Rogue:
KLEPTOMANIAC, n. A rich thief.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
Not too much has been going on. We got out for a little while this last weekend. It was nice seeing folks that I hadn't seen for a bit. I went through my drawers some and uncovered some long lost t-shirts. Otherwise it was a quiet weekend.
I am getting more excited with the warmer weather. I have had visions of fishing and grilling. It should be a lot more fun this summer with Heidi's sis living so close to us all. That reminds me that I have to go get my fishing license though!
I have also been really itching to try brewing my first batch of beer. I have been waiting to buy ingredients until I had a little bit of cash, which may not be anytime soon unfortunately. I think I am going to make a cherry wheat the first time out and hopefully it doesn't suck. If I manage to not kill it I will try a specialty for my father-in-law's birthday.
Speaking of homebrewing, I saw this article about archeobrews. I must admit that the Midas Touch sounds interesting. I have been sampling a lot of different types of brews recently. Schell's Maifest is probably the best of what I have sampled lately.
On the weightloss front, I am hanging at a solid 20 lb loss right now. I think I may have hit a small plateau, but it has only been a week, so i am not going to worry yet.
I hope everyone enjoys April Fool's Day.
Quotable Rogue:
KLEPTOMANIAC, n. A rich thief.
Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Another post!
This makes two posts in one month! Time to celebrate... Actually, I found a couple of good quotes and wanted to add them but figured I could do some updates as well.
I picked up the brewing equipment yesterday and OMG! The fine family that responded to my freecycle post are my favorite people in the town of Tiffin now. I got everything I need except for sanitizer and a few of the actual ingredients. I am very excited to give it a go now. I think I am going to try an easy wheat beer for my first go, and split it up into regular and cherry in secondary fermentation. I don't have any great expectations, but I am very much looking forward to it.
I can't say enough good stuff about Freecycle. It saved me at least 50 bucks in equipment and if I were to buy a similar kit it would be over 100 bucks easily.
Anyways, gotta get ready for our D&D game tomorrow, so here are the Quotable Rogues for today:
Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.
-Oscar Wilde
He that first cries out stop thief, is often he that has stolen the treasure.
-William Congreve
I picked up the brewing equipment yesterday and OMG! The fine family that responded to my freecycle post are my favorite people in the town of Tiffin now. I got everything I need except for sanitizer and a few of the actual ingredients. I am very excited to give it a go now. I think I am going to try an easy wheat beer for my first go, and split it up into regular and cherry in secondary fermentation. I don't have any great expectations, but I am very much looking forward to it.
I can't say enough good stuff about Freecycle. It saved me at least 50 bucks in equipment and if I were to buy a similar kit it would be over 100 bucks easily.
Anyways, gotta get ready for our D&D game tomorrow, so here are the Quotable Rogues for today:
Society produces rogues, and education makes one rogue cleverer than another.
-Oscar Wilde
He that first cries out stop thief, is often he that has stolen the treasure.
-William Congreve
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St. Partrick's Day
It's been a month since I blogged and a lot has happened, but for now I want to say "Slainte!" to all my fellow (and faux) Irishmen out there. I have always been proud of my Irish heritage and this is one of my favorite days of the year. In a break with tradition I am actually not knocking back a few the year.
On that subject however, I am going to try homebrewing. I have been reading up on it a lot actually thanks to the Sam Adams ads for their brew challenge. Thanks to Freecycle I have procured much of the needed equipment. (I actually pick it up tomorrow.) Now I have to decide what to brew first.
In other news, I have been sucessful in going back on my diet. I have lost 20 lbs. so far! I have taken over as DM in our Thurs night sessions. Since I have been slacking on my writing it is a good creative outlet.
No quotable rogues for today, but I will keep an eye out for more.
Erin Go Braugh for you Irish supporters and Póg mo thóin to those who aren't.
On that subject however, I am going to try homebrewing. I have been reading up on it a lot actually thanks to the Sam Adams ads for their brew challenge. Thanks to Freecycle I have procured much of the needed equipment. (I actually pick it up tomorrow.) Now I have to decide what to brew first.
In other news, I have been sucessful in going back on my diet. I have lost 20 lbs. so far! I have taken over as DM in our Thurs night sessions. Since I have been slacking on my writing it is a good creative outlet.
No quotable rogues for today, but I will keep an eye out for more.
Erin Go Braugh for you Irish supporters and Póg mo thóin to those who aren't.
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