Category : Homebrewing
Hop Press: Batch sparge grain bill calculator
August 14th, 2010Over on Hop Press today, I have an article that is pointing back to this site: I’ve developed an online (Javascript) version of the batch sparge calculations that John Palmer outlines in How to Brew. The actual calculator is here.
Last week’s Hop Press article has a bit more backstory.
My first all-grain homebrew
July 13th, 2010Last weekend (on the 5th, actually), I brewed my first all-grain batch of homebrew, effectively taking my new mash tun setup on a test drive. Overall, I have to say it was fairly successful and ridiculously easy.
I brewed a Porter, basing the recipe on a Black Butte Porter clone I found in an old Brew Your Own magazine, and followed the batch sparging technique outlined in John Palmer’s How to Brew (which is a must-have brewing book, by the way). I kept good notes, observing some of the fluctuations in temperature the system might tend toward, and I’m pretty impressed with the whole affair. (Of course, I kept to a fairly simple regimen of a single-step infusion mash at 152° for one hour.)
The only gotcha is that I missed the original gravity mark of 1.058, instead coming in at 1.044—due to, I realized later, not using the PPG extract number of 28 that Palmer gives for batch sparging and instead assuming the default PPG of (on average) 34. The solution is simple: increase the grain next time.
I racked it to the secondary last night, and the gravity reading was pretty impressive: 1.005, much lower than I would have estimated, which pushes the potential alcohol content to about 5.1% rather than the 4.2% or so I was expecting from the lower OG.
Plus, it tasted really good, which is more than enough to sell me on this whole all-grain thing.
I’m not entirely sure what my next new batch will be (besides another porter with adjusted grain amounts), but now that I’m set up for it I’m kind of itching to try a Belgian Wit.
The Session #41: Craft Beers Inspired by Homebrewing
July 3rd, 2010
This is the first Session where I didn’t have a post ready on the actual day of the Session (otherwise known as “Beer Blogging Friday”), which is a little disappointing (I was on a streak) but in the end I’m going with the words of Charlie Papazian: “Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew.”
Appropriately, homebrew is the topic of this month’s Session, as selected by our host, Lug Wrench Brewing Company: Craft Beers Inspired by Homebrewing:
How has homebrewing had an affect on the commercial beer we have all come to love? Feel free to take the topic in any direction your imagination leads you.
Write about a beer that has its roots in homebrewing. Write about a commercial beer that originated from a homebrew.
Write about a professional brewer you admire who got their start in homebrewing before they went pro. Write about a professional brewer who still homebrews in their free time.
Write about a Pro-Am beer tasted either at a festival or a brewpub. Write about an Amateur / Professional Co-op you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing (such as The Green Dragon Project).
Write about commercial brewers using “Homebrewing” as part of the marketing. Write about the Sam Adams LongShot beers, whether good or bad.
Write in the first person. Write in the third person. Have someone else write it for you.
Just write about it.
I don’t have a particular beer in mind as I write this, but what strikes me about the topic is that Oregon is a state whose craft beer industry was largely built on homebrewing. Off the top of my head I can think of two prominent examples:
- John Maier, the longtime brewmaster of Rogue (since 1989), got his start in homebrewing: he won the American Homebrewer Association’s Homebrewer of the Year Award in 1986, and I remember reading accounts of his early homebrewing efforts where (die-hard brewers will appreciate this) he was doing all-grain decoction mashes simply because he didn’t have the kitchen space otherwise (for large pots, presumably).
- Shawn Kelso, the (relatively new, compared to Maier’s tenure) brewer of Barley Brown’s Brewpub in Baker City: he was an avid homebrewer before starting at Barley Brown’s, and by his own account (read his interview on The Daily Pull) he more-or-less fell into the job. Lately he’s been collecting a good number of awards for his beers.
Let’s not forget Widmer, either: their Collaborator project partners them with the Oregon Brew Crew (one of the state’s premier homebrew organizations) to hold periodic brewing competitions, with the winning beer being brewed by Widmer. Their best known example is the Snow Plow Milk Stout, which started as a Collaborator beer.
Oregon, craft beer, and homebrewing are inextricably linked, and the beer industry is benefiting enormously from it.
Now, I’m off to the Brew Shop shortly to pick up ingredients for a batch of beer I plan to brew…
The next Session (#41 in July)
June 13th, 2010The topic for the July Session has been posted, and is being hosted by the “virtual brewery,” Lug Wrench Brewing Company: Craft Beers Inspired by Homebrewing.
How has homebrewing had an affect on the commercial beer we have all come to love? Feel free to take the topic in any direction your imagination leads you.
Write about a beer that has its roots in homebrewing. Write about a commercial beer that originated from a homebrew.
Write about a professional brewer you admire who got their start in homebrewing before they went pro. Write about a professional brewer who still homebrews in their free time.
Write about a Pro-Am beer tasted either at a festival or a brewpub. Write about an Amateur / Professional Co-op you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing (such as The Green Dragon Project).
Write about commercial brewers using “Homebrewing” as part of the marketing. Write about the Sam Adams LongShot beers, whether good or bad.
Write in the first person. Write in the third person. Have someone else write it for you.
Just write about it.
July 2nd—mark your calendars.
Coffee Beer Week: Coffee in homebrewing
May 26th, 2010
When it comes to brewing with coffee, homebrewers have it good: small-scale brewing makes it easy and affordable to experiment in ways that larger commercial brewers can’t. For instance, you could split a batch into two equal parts for secondary fermentation and add two different types of coffee to compare; you won’t need much coffee for this and you only need a second carboy.
Of course, getting the coffee into your beer is the trick; here’s what several sources have to say about the process:
Charlie Papazian in The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing (2nd edition from 1991) suggests using
…only fresh ground beans and steep (never boil them) during the final 5 minutes before straining and sparging. Another option would be to add freshly ground coffee to the secondary and “cold extract” the coffee essence. How much to use? Give it a shot with half a pound for your first 5 gallons and progress from there.
Al Korzonas in Homebrewing Volume 1 (1997) makes note of using flavored coffees as well as plain, and says:
I recommend steeping between ½ pound and 1 pound of freshly-ground coffee beans in a few cups of boiling water (don’t boil the beans) for 15 minutes or so and then run the liquid through a coffee filter. Then, get another fresh coffee filter and run it through again. You can even do that again a third time. The reason for all this extra filtering is to remove the oils that you are going to get from the beans. If left in the coffee, these oils will ruin your head retention. Add the cooled coffee into the primary at the end of fermentation.
Randy Mosher in Radical Brewing (2004) says, “The best way to use it is with a cold extraction…. Four to 8 ounces (113 to 227 g) of coffee will season a batch.” This cold extract should be added to the secondary for the cleanest flavor. He gives instructions on cold extracting the coffee:
This is a way of getting very smooth coffee flavor to add to your beer. Add 0.5 lb (0.45 kg) ground coffee to 24 ounces of cold filtered water in a sanitized container. Allow this to sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then run the mixture through a coffee filter. All or part of this extract… may be added to your stout.
Personally, I myself would opt for the cold extraction method and add the coffee to the secondary of whatever I’m brewing. If you’re adventurous, you could experiment with different methods—adding the grounds directly to the post-boil steeping or the secondary, cold extracting using a liquor such as vodka (akin to making a Kahlua-type liqueur), or if you’re really feeling experimental, adding whole beans to the secondary.
(I don’t know that I’d recommend this latter method, as the beans themselves contain a lot of oil that will extract into the beer—but I confess I’m curious enough that I might try it myself some time.)
You can get coffee flavors without actually using coffee, of course—roasted barley will impart coffee characters to the beer and is identifiable as such in many Stouts. Adding various coffee liqueurs to the beer will add coffee characters also—as well as boosting the alcohol content of the brew.
What styles of beer can/should coffee show up in? Aside from the obvious use of coffee in Porters and Stouts, here are some other possibilities that spring to mind:
- Schwarzbier
- Doppelbock
- Cascadian Dark Ale
- Brown Ale
- Belgian Dark Ales
- Dark Mild
- Winter Warmer
Of course, since homebrewing is all about experimenting, there’s no reason you couldn’t add coffee to any beer style. Mocha Pilsner? Java Wit? Why not?
Hop Press today: Stumbling towards all-grain brewing
May 8th, 2010My Hop Press article today documents my first steps towards actual all-grain brewing:
Palmer’s How to Brew outlined “batch sparging”—also the “no sparge” method—which made it clear to me that all I really need is the mash tun, no complications needed. Batch sparging is simple: you mash the grains with the hot water, drain off the hot wort, pour a second “batch” of hot water into the grains, and drain that off. Done. No need for a second tank setup and sparge arm assembly!
I already have a 30-quart pot that I boil my full batches of beer in, so really, the only thing I needed was the mash/lauter tun. The other bit of resistance I had was in acquiring/converting a cooler into one—and quite frankly, this resistance melted away once I saw how easy it truly is to build your own.
With photos! In case you’re looking to put your own system together. Yes, it’s really that easy.
Rumbullion and other fermented beverages
April 16th, 2010Being interested in beer and brewing, naturally I tend to wonder about the fermentability of various things, and for some reason I was curious as to what fermented molasses is called. Now, I of course know that molasses that has been fermented and then distilled is rum—but I wanted to know what the intermediate stage (the “beer” stage if you will) is called.
There are of course names for other fermented beverages, based on their (primary) fermentable source:
- Grain: beer (duh!)
- Honey: mead
- Apples: cider
- Pears: perry
- Fruit (especially grapes): wine
After querying Twitter and googling it a bit, I found an answer: a fermented molasses beverage (pre-distilled) is called “rumbullion.” Ironically, I found the answer on this Yahoo! Answers page (the “Other answers” one), and it has some interesting tidbits:
Next, make sure you are using grade A molasses, not a second or third running. The grade A has a higher sugar content, and leads to a higher alcohol content. The ratio you will want to use is approx. 1:4 molasses to water, etc. (1 pint/quart/gallon of molasses for every 4 pints/quarts/gallons of water) I make an apple rumbullion, and use apple juice instead of the water.
Don’t use straight molasses, the specific gravity of the fluid is too heavy for the yeast to survive. The ratio above (with apple juice instead of water) gives you a starting gravity of approx. 1.120. This is a potential ABV of about 15.5%, depending on fermentation conditions.
A final warning, the stuff takes about 3 months to finish fermenting, and is VERY tart for the first 6 months or so after that. You should plan to drink it about 12 months after you start the primary fermentation. It also never completely clears.
Ultimately I think this is something I’m going to have to try.
While I was searching, I came across the Wikipedia list of alcoholic beverages which has a number of other interesting ones. For example:
- Kilju, a Finnish “sugar wine” made from straight sugar (plus water and yeast of course)
- Kumis (and also kefir), fermented mare’s milk (I’ve heard of this before)
- Palm wine, made from the sap of various palm trees
- Tonto, a Ugandan beverage made from bananas
What about maple syrup? Another quick search seems to reveal it to be called “acer wine” when fermented.
There’s a lot of homebrewing experiments to be gleaned from the links I’ve posted above.
The Beer Hacker: Brewing on the cheap: The $20 beer challenge
April 1st, 2010This is the latest in a series of articles about the economic impact of brewing your own beer at home.
One of the things that inspired this series was a sort of challenge I had in mind: Would it be possible to walk into the Brew Shop with only a $20 bill and walk out with all the necessary ingredients to brew a five-gallon batch of beer?
Why $20? Well, at one point when there was a bit of belt-tightening going on, it seemed like a reasonable price point to support my beer habit: the equivalent of a case of beer for $10, cheaper even than the alternative—canned macro lagers which run around $13-15 per case. Could I really produce beer cheaper than on-sale PBR? The more I thought about it, the more I decided I had to explore it.
Of course, you can brew some pretty awful stuff for pretty cheap, so of course one of the requirements is that it has to be good beer—flavorful and enjoyable. So, for less than the retail cost of any beer on the shelves, can it be done?
The Beer Hacker: Brewing on the cheap: All-grain vs. extract brewing
March 18th, 2010This is the latest in a series of articles about the economic impact of brewing your own beer at home.
One of the comments from the last “Brewing on the cheap” post mentioned all-grain brewing as “far cheaper” since you’re buying grain in bulk, and in fact an examination of all-grain brewing as compared to extract brewing is something I had been planning in this series. How economical is brewing all-grain? Let’s take a look at some assumptions and work up some costs by style, and contrast with the extract costs. Also, there are some other economics considerations I’ll touch on at the end that you should consider when making the decision as to what type of economical brewer you are going to be.
The Beer Hacker: Brewing on the cheap: Revising estimates
February 11th, 2010Returning to the series of articles about the economic impact of homebrewing, we re-examine previous cost estimates based on new information.
When I started this series, hops at the local Brew Shop were selling for $5 to $6.50 per two-ounces of whole flowers, and that was what the various estimates were based on. Since then, the price of whole hops has dropped to $3.25 to $3.95 per two-ounce package, so here I present some updated figures.
(Note: the online prices of hops are still averaging around $5-6 per two ounces, so it’s possible that hop prices in your area—if you have a local homebrew shop—are still similarly priced as well. But there is currently a hop surplus (a reaction to the hop shortage several years back), so I would expect to start seeing those prices go down sooner rather than later.)
Without further ado, here’s our updated pricing chart:
| Ingredient | Price | Price (online) |
|---|---|---|
| Malt extract syrup – 7 lbs. | $18.00 | $16.50 |
| Malt extract – dried – 3 lbs. | $11.00 | $11.25 |
| Malt extract – dried – 1 lb. | $4.25 | $4.40 |
| Grains – per pound | $1.90 | $1.45 |
| Specialty grains – per pound | $2.25 | ~$2.00 |
| Hops (whole leaf) | $3.25 – 3.95 | $5.50+ |
| Liquid yeast | $6.50 | $6.00 – 10.00 |
| Yeast – dry | $1.25 – 3.95 | $1.20 – 4.00 |
| Corn sugar – 1 lb. | $1.25 | $1.00 – 2.00 |
And, here’s an updated table of costs by style:
| Style | Price |
|---|---|
| American Pale Ale | $31.15 |
| English Bitter | $34.77 |
| India Pale Ale | $43.35 |
| Double/Imperial IPA | $54.92 |
| Brown Ale | $31.07 |
| Porter | $37.09 |
| Stout (basic) | $34.40 |
| Imperial Stout | $71.17 |
| Hefeweizen (basic) | $29.95 |
| Cream Ale | $29.15 |
| Belgian Witbier | $35.93 |
| Barleywine | ~$70 |
Not a huge difference from the original estimates, but every little bit adds up.
Thanksgiving Week: Homebrewing
November 24th, 2009
One event in particular is worth special note to be thankful for: when President Jimmy Carter signed the bill in February 1979 that made homebrewing legal in the U.S. This effectively launched a (home)brewing renaissance in the United States that can be traced in large part to Charlie Papazian‘s influence.
Today, 30 years later, homebrewing is a flourishing cottage industry, with supply shops and clubs and classes all over the country enabling people to brew great beer at home. One of the more appealing things about the hobby is that there truly is no limit when it comes to brewing: it can be as simple or as complicated as you want; you can brew clones of your favorite brands of beer, or invent completely new recipes; you can brew any style of beer you want—even “lost” or rare styles from around the world that might be impossible to otherwise experience.
For all the appeal the artisan aspect of homebrewing presents, I’m also thankful for the practical knowledge it has afforded me. Brewing beer is a hugely practical skill! I’ve joked that when the world goes post-apocalyptic, knowing how to brew will be the new currency—but it’s true!
(Of course, I’m not in any hurry to test that theory… the “Road Warrior” was a good movie and all, but I’d rather not have to boil the wort in a cracked toilet bowl over an open flame…)
It’s a hell of a hobby, one that lets me indulge in creativity and science with the best results of all: beer!
Tasting early homebrew efforts
November 17th, 2009Last night I opened up three very old bottles of my homebrew that I had squirreled away. Truth be told, I didn’t really expect them to be drinkable but I was very curious as to their condition, and it was an educational opportunity as well.
All of these beers date back to the mid-to-late 90s, and while I tried to keep them stored somewhat decently, I’m sure there were times which they were kept under less than ideal conditions… but what is beer if no one ever drinks it?
Here are my notes on the beers, along with some pictures. (The glass is a Ballast Point Brewing tasting glass my brother gave me.)
Original Beer: The first beer I ever brewed, it was from a kit and is more-or-less to an Amber Ale style. For a detailed and cringe-worthy story of brewing this beer, you can read this post; it still turned out to be a successful beer and launched me on this (ongoing) homebrew journey.
It’s really clear and is a really nice chestnut brown color. There’s still a little bit of carbonation in it, but any head is pretty much non-existent. Heavily oxidized, with a woody, pungent, almost oily, almost medicinal flavor that is “wet cardboard” taken to an extreme. Even so, I can still pick out a touch of caramel, maybe some diacetyl (butterscotch), and some vinous sherry character.
Honey Wheat: I think this was the third beer I brewed, but it might have been the second; I also brewed a Porter around this time but the order of the two escapes me. I used a wheat malt kit and added real honey to the brew—quite a step up for such a novice brewer.
Oxidation is the primary component here, but not in an overpowering way. The beer pours remarkably clear with a decent head—no kidding! The carbonation is still there, 13 or 14 years later. It’s rather nice-looking. The nose is kind of a combination of a mead-y aroma and sherry-like oxidation, kind of a light fruity-tart honey aroma. It’s thin on the tongue, more of that tart honey character with wet paper, though I’m happy to give it the benefit of the doubt and call it “sour berry sherry”.
Oktoberfest: I have less detail on this beer than the first two; in fact I have to take my own word (a note on the cap) that it’s an Oktoberfest at all because it’s darkened up considerably—it’s more the color of a Porter.
On the nose it’s pretty neutral, but there is the oxydized character along with something that could be “sharp” (metallic?). The taste itself is the sherry-like cardboard, but somewhat mild, and there’s both a bit of a tang and—at first blush—something I’d call licorice. It’s higher alcohol than the first two—you can feel it rather than taste it, almost a dry quality—and there’s a touch of roasted or maybe chocolate malts in there too. If it is was an Oktoberfest (probably was), I wouldn’t have guessed it tasting it blind.
Recipe: Harvest Apple Ale
November 9th, 2009Actually I’m leaning towards calling this beer “Hood River Harvest” because all of the apples came from Hood River; we went apple picking in September and came back with a ton of both apples and pears. Looking for more uses for the apples (we canned a lot of applesauce) I found a recipe in The Homebrewer’s Recipe Guide called “Apple Brown Betty Fall Ale” and decided to brew up a variation.
As usual, this recipe is extract-based for five gallons.
- 7 lbs. light malt extract
- 0.5 lbs. chocolate malt (350°L)
- 1 cup molasses
- 1.5 oz. Fuggles hops for 60 minutes
- 0.5 oz. Hallertauer hops for 5 minutes
- 1 tsp. Irish moss
- 2 tsp. cinnamon (steep at end of boil)
- 4 lbs. apples, diced (steep at end of boil for 30 minutes)
- 4 lbs. apples, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 vanilla bean for secondary
- Wyeast 1272 American Ale II
The end goal is a brown(ish) fruit ale spiced with cinnamon.
About the hops: I actually substituted two ounces of my own home-grown hops for the Fuggles and Hallertauer the recipe calls for. In fact I have no real idea what variety of hops they are (I suspect Cascade or similar) or what their alpha acid content is, so it’s all guesswork.
The four pounds of apples at the end of the boil are steeped for 30 minutes (remove the pot from the burner), then I strained them out and made malted applesauce with them: purée the cooked apples (pick out any hops stuck with them), add sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and vanilla to taste, and bring to a simmer on the stove (five minutes at a nice simmer should do it). Eat it soon, or can it; it’s a surprisingly different character, with hops playing a prominent role—but I find it goes very well with beer.
For the secondary fermentation, I found that shredding the apples seemed to work pretty well, though the original recipe calls for puréeing them. Either way, bring to 150° in a pot with some water for 20 minutes to kill any bacteria, let cool and add to the secondary.
Just this weekend I racked the beer off the apples (and cinnamon stick and vanilla bean) to clarify an additional seven or so days before bottling; I want to minimize any leftover chunks getting into the process.
Thus far the original gravity was 1.053 and the gravity at this most recent racking was 1.012, which gives an alcohol by volume of about 5.3%. It tasted pretty good, too, and a bit different. I’ll be interested to taste the final results.
Recipe: Ginger Wheat Ale
August 13th, 2009This is the recipe for the latest beer I’ve brewed, a light summertime-style wheat ale with candied ginger. It was a bit spontaneous as my goal was originally to brew Randy Mosher’s “Summer Ale, What-If Version” from Radical Brewing (though the recipe first appeared online here), but the Brew Shop was out of the dried wheat extract I needed. So I switched gears and the result is my Ginger Wheat Ale.
It actually turned out quite nice, a good, light beer (4.33% alcohol by volume) with sweet ginger notes—not unlike a ginger ale. I used candied ginger from Trader Joe’s (something like $1.99 for an eight ounce bag), and it gives a good result I think.
As always, this recipe is for a five gallon extract batch.
- 7 pounds liquid wheat extract
- 0.5 pounds 10°L Crystal malt
- 1.5 ounces Willamette hops (5.1% alpha acid) for 60 minutes
- 1 ounce candied ginger (chopped up) for 5 minutes
- 0.25 ounces coriander for 5 minutes
- Yeast: 1 package Munton’s dry yeast
Pretty easy recipe. Additionally, when I racked this to the secondary, I added another ounce of chopped up candied ginger and let that sit for another two weeks before bottling.
Original gravity was 1.048, final gravity was 1.015 for an alcohol (as I mentioned) of 4.33% by volume. Loose estimates of other numbers give a color of 4 SRM (not accurate, it’s darker than that) and 28 IBUs.
The Beer Hacker: Brewing on the cheap: Costs by style
July 18th, 2009This is the second part in a series of articles about the economic impact of brewing your own beer at home.
In the last (introductory) article, I set out baseline prices for ingredients and established a base price for an American Pale Ale. In this article let’s expand on that and figure out some base prices for a variety of other styles.
Bear in mind there are always ways to shave costs off the estimates I’m giving here. Switching from liquid to dry yeast, for example, can save you $5 or so. Different varieties of hops vary in price, and you may save money buying hop pellets rather than whole flowers. If you only use one ounce of hops from a two-ounce package, you can use the other ounce in another recipe and split the cost of the hops between two batches. And so on.
Also keep in mind these are all estimates, both in price and approximate recipe for the style. Your mileage may vary. Read the rest of this entry »
