Oh yeah, I have a blog

Well it certainly has been a while.  Where have I been, you ask?  I've been around and still brewing.  At the end of May I moved down to Orlando again.  Not sure if this is another temporary one or if it is a full time thing.  Anyway, I have been very lazy when it comes to brewing.  Well that changed this week.

In a personal sad turn of events, I had to put one of my beloved dogs down last Thursday.  I chose to take her to the SPCA in Sanford.  I had read about the Sanford Homebrew Shop in a homebrew forum.  I figured I would stop by and get supplies while I was up there, hoping that doing something I love would help with the sadness I was feeling.  I got the supplies but was in no mood to brew that day.  Today, however, was a perfect day for brewing.

Aruba

Now the goal of the home brewer is to be able to drink their beer "in season."  that means having the forethought to have the beer brewed and ready in time.  The end of September is Oktoberfest, a 16-day festival running from late September to the first weekend in October.  I may not be able to enjoy my homebrew during the celebration, but I decided I would brew a German Octoberfest.

This is a partial grain extract brew.  I haven't done a partial in a long time due to the fact that I was brewing with my friend Paul the last couple years.  He had a nice outdoor setup for all grain.  Now that I'm back to just me and I don't have an all grain setup, time for partial again.  They've always turned out good beers for me, so that is fine.

A note on the recipe.  The Oktoberfest recipe called for lager yeast.  Lager yeast ferments at cooler temperatures than ale yeast does.  I am not setup for lagering where I currently live.  So I used a San Francisco Lager yeast which acts more like an ale yeast.

German Oktoberfest

6.6 # Munich LME (Light Malt Extract)
1 # Amber DME (Dark Malt Extract)
8 oz Caramel 60L (grains)
4 oz Caramel 20L (grains)
1 oz GR Tettnang (hops)
1 oz GR Hallertau (hops)
1 vile San Francisco Lager Yeast WLP810

Brew: 9/30
OG: 1.056
Rack: 10/5
FG: 1.016
Bottle: 10/12
ABV: 5.25%

A beautiful day for a brew

Yes I know it has been a long time.  I moved from my last place into a small third floor apartment.  It was hot during the summer so I waited till it got cold out so I can ferment without problems or extra equipment.  So now I'm back and hopefully often.

Paul milling the grain

Today was my first venture into all grain brewing.  I've seen plenty of videos and done a lot of reading on the subject.  Yet I still wasn't comfortable in doing it by myself first.  Plus I also don't have all the necessary equipment.  Luckily a good friend and fellow home brewer, Paul Ascher has both the experience and equipment.  So I went over to his house today for a brew.  As you can see from the short video, we couldn't have picked a more beautiful day.

We decided on an Imperial IPA.  Here's the recipe.

30# Pale Malt (Bris)
1# 45 Cristal Malt
1# 20 Cristal Malt
3oz Samcoe Hops A:14.1 B:3.8
2oz Centennial Hops A:10.3 B:3.9
1 vial of pacific ale yeast

We mashed the grains for one hour at 158 degrees.  Then we sparged the grains at170 degrees.

Watching the sparge

The Samcoe was added at the start of the boil.  Then one ounce of Centennial was added at the 30 minute mark and one at the 15 minute mark.

The boil

Up until today, everything I've done has been a partial grain, partial extract brew.  With that, you use extract for a majority of your flavoring and sugars and boil with a small amount of grains to add that freshness to your beer.  With all grain, since all of your flavor and sugars come from grain, the beer is fresher.  Also it is cheaper to brew.  Although it does take a little more time, some extra equipment, and more space.  It was fun though and I plan to do it again.

Busy Little Brewer

A few weeks ago I got another carboy.  So now I can ferment more than one brew at a time.  So on the 16th I racked over the IPA to a secondary.  Then on the 17th I brewed another beer.  I chose a Steam beer, something that's supposed to be a good Spring beer.  I've had an Anchor Steam long ago, but can't say I remember if I like it.  But I figured I'd give this a shot anyway.

 There will be no gravity number this batch.  While pulling out the hydrometer from it's sleeve, one end cap popped off and it went shattering across the floor.  So I'll have to get another one of those.  Of course after all that happens the dogs decide they need to check out the broken glass mess.  Luckily no sliced paws.

Since last time, I did try the Nutcracker Ale.  I really liked how this turned out.  It's a brown ale so that already means I'm more apt to like it.  But the flavors are good, carbonation is great.  I was a little worried at the beginning when I messed up a little on brew day, but everything turned out great.  Now I need to plan the next one.

Here's the Steam Beer recipe:

6.6# Gold Liquid Malt Extract
0.75# 60L Crystal Malt
0.5# British Pale Malt
1.5oz Northern Brewer Hops
1oz Cascade Hops
1pkg Wyeast Liquid Yeast - California Lager

Brew: 4/17
OG:
Rack: 4/23
Bottle:
FG:
ABV:

IPA

I decided to mix things up and go with something that I don't traditionally like, an IPA. I'm doing this for something different and also because I do have friends that like IPA's, so they can be my taste testers. Recipe is below.

I'll also be trying the Nutcracker Ale in a little bit. It's been conditioning for 11 days now and I suspect a little more time in the bottle will do it well, but I'm a little eager and tonight is my drinking night.

6.6# Amber Liquid Malt Extract
1# Crystal Grain
0.5# Victory Grain
0.25# Munich Grain
2oz Northern Brewer Hops
1oz Fuggles Hops
1tsp Gypsum
Pinch table salt
1 pkg Wyeast Liquid Yeast - London Ale

Brew: 4/10
SG:
Rack: 4/16
FG:
Bottled: 4/23
ABV:

Nutcracker Ale

I decided that brewing on St. Patrick's Day made a lot of sense. So that's what I did today. This was my first spiced beer and it's a little heavier than maybe I should be making as it approaches spring and summer, but who cares.

I kind of did things in the wrong order when it came to putting the wort in the fermentor. So things got a little watered down and then with my attempts at fixing it, I hopefully didn't contaminate anything. All I know for now is that the OG I have for this can't be right but it is listed for posterity.

6.6# Gold Malt Extract
1# Munich Grain
1# British Crystal Grain
1/2# Chocolate Grain
1/2#Cara Pils Grain
2oz Northern Brewer Hops
1oz Fuggles Hops
1tsp Cinnamon
1/4tsp Nutmeg
1oz Sweet Orange Peel
1pkg Wyeast Liquid Yeast - British Ale

Brew: 3/17
OG: 1.050 @73degrees
Rack:
Bottle: 3/30
FG: 1.015@68 degrees
ABV: 4.8

Brew Updates

I intend to update this when I first try my beers, but once I start with one it rolls from there and then soon I forget all about it.

Anyway, the American Special Amber was good. It seemed to be missing just a little something but not sure what it was. It was my best carbonated beer to date. And today I tried the Irish Red Ale. It was bottled only ten days ago. I thought it might be a little early, but I think drinking my own Irish Red on St. Patty's Day was necessary. The taste was smooth and delicious. It was very close to the Special Amber in taste, but it seems this Irish Red isn't "missing" what the Amber was. It just needs a little more time to fully carbonate.

Finally, I got the best St. Patty's Day miracle surprise today. I bought three Corney Kegs for $20 each. Some old man on Craigslist was just looking to get rid of them. Getting one for the same price I got these three for is a good buy generally. For those that don't know, Corney Kegs are five gallon containers that used to be used by the soda industry to ship their syrup. The are obsolete for soda company with the invention of the bladder bag systems. The kegs have become the favorite of home brewers for kegging as they are the perfect size for the five gallon batches. Kegging the brew saves time with bottling, cleaning and wait time. Now I can skip yeast conditioning and just use CO2.

Irish Red Ale

In accordance with my New Year's resolutions, I'm brewing more beer. Today was an Irish Red Ale, partial grain. I was going to brew yesterday and spend Valentine's Day with my true love, home brew, but after a little mistake I messed up the first step. So I had to go get more grains. Attempt number two went much better.

With this being the second brew at the new house I did learn a little something. The range here is electric and has the instant hot burners. Both times my grain bag melted to the bottom and scorched the pot. Pulling the bag up caused it to tear leaving a mess and extra clean up. So now I definitely need to get the turkey fryer for outside brewing to hopefully avoid this in the future.

Here's the recipe:

3.3 lbs Gold Liquid Malt Extract
1lb M&F Light Dry Malt
2lbs Lager Grain M&F (cracked)
1lb Cara Pils Grain (cracked)
1lb British Crystal Grain (cracked)
2oz Fuggles Hops
1oz Fuggles Hops
1 pkg Wyeast Liquid Yeast- Irish Ale

Brew: 2/15
OG: 1.042@72 degrees
Rack:
Bottle: 3/7
FG: 1.008@66 degrees
ABV: 4.7