Just a quick brewing update:
Just bottled an All Grain kit from Northern Brewer, the 'Surly Bender,' the recipe is here. O.G. Was 1.057, F.G. 1.010, using the British Ale II Wyeast. Brewed mid-May, bottled yesterday, so about two months in the primary.
Planning on doing two batches, upcoming: an American Pie beer (Nut brown w/cider and cinnamon) and, perhaps, an Apple Cider with Maple Syrup and Brown Sugar?
My plan right now with the cider is to brew a 5 gallon batch, then at bottling do three variants: one with no added sugar, one with Splenda(brown sugar splenda?) and a third with Erythritol or Xylitol or some other non-fermentable sugar. Anna (and I) tend to like the sweeter ciders, and it's hard to get that without killing the yeast.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Star Trek: The Next Generation I
Little and I have just finished (re)-watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, except for Nemesis and a couple episodes I just could not bring myself to rewatch (Shades of Grey, Aquiel). It was a fairly long process, spanning a couple months (I think?), unlike things like Buffy, where we just chewed through them. Both Little and I got distracted from finishing, moving between series (the most recent being Little's obsession with Korean Dramas). But, after watching All Good Things on Thursday and Generations/First Contact/Insurrection yesterday, we made a final push.
Some brief thoughts:
Generations was a lot better than I remembered it. Not nearly as good as First Contact, granted, but probably the best of the 'odd' movies. The weakest part of the story was the attempt to unite the two crews, but I guess that had to be done. Picard was exceptional, though I wish he and Guinan had advanced their relationship a bit more. She, as is often the case, was just the mysterious guru used to advance the plot. Her escape from the Borg was an interesting aspect of her character, but we didn't get to feel any of those implications. Data was a little too much of a sideshow, and they didn't really follow up on the implications for Geordi and his relationship after Data fails to save him.
The weakness of relationship development runs through the movies, I think. The characters who are defined primarily by their relationships to the major characters - especially Beverly, but also Geordi - become non-entities. Movies also seem to be weaker for advancing interpersonal relationships, which is probably the reason I prefer TV to movies. The exception is Deanna and Riker starting in Insurrection - that was good fun.
Perhaps more later.
Some brief thoughts:
Generations was a lot better than I remembered it. Not nearly as good as First Contact, granted, but probably the best of the 'odd' movies. The weakest part of the story was the attempt to unite the two crews, but I guess that had to be done. Picard was exceptional, though I wish he and Guinan had advanced their relationship a bit more. She, as is often the case, was just the mysterious guru used to advance the plot. Her escape from the Borg was an interesting aspect of her character, but we didn't get to feel any of those implications. Data was a little too much of a sideshow, and they didn't really follow up on the implications for Geordi and his relationship after Data fails to save him.
The weakness of relationship development runs through the movies, I think. The characters who are defined primarily by their relationships to the major characters - especially Beverly, but also Geordi - become non-entities. Movies also seem to be weaker for advancing interpersonal relationships, which is probably the reason I prefer TV to movies. The exception is Deanna and Riker starting in Insurrection - that was good fun.
Perhaps more later.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Adam Smith II and III
A while back I brewed a beer, all grain, that I dubbed "Adam Smith." Unfortunately, I did not keep track of the ingredients I used or the process I used, so I am unable to perfectly recreate it. I have been able to piece together a vague understanding of it, so today Anna and I are going to attempt to brew a beer that, while not quite Adam Smith, will come somewhere close to it.
This attempt will be hampered by two facts: 1) My left over yeast from the Adam Smith has spoiled and 2) I ordered the ingredients a while back. One of the sets of grain is not even cracked, so we will have to make do with the food processor.
Adam Smith II - The Invisible Hand.
All Grain
Yeast - ? The one that smelled best from the fridge.
3 Gallons
6 lbs Gambrinus ESB Pale (base malt, crushed, a little old)
.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
.25 lbs Briess Carapils
1 oz New Zealand Motueka (.25 First Wort, .5 60min, .25 15 min)
2 oz UK First Gold (.50 First Wort, .50 5 min, 1 oz dry hop)
Stats from iBrewMaster:
Predicted O.G. 1.050 F.G. 1.015 ABV: 4.59%, 52 IBU
Actual O.G. 1.053.
Mashed at ~151-153F for 60 minutes. Added the First Wort hop additions around 50 minutes into it. Had a second pot of water boiling alongside. I left the stove on low, and that kept the temperature about stable.
Adam Smith III
All Grain
Yeast - Safbrew S-33 Dry Ale Yeast
3 Gallons
6 lbs British Golden Promise
.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
.25 lbs Breiss Carapils
1 oz UK WGV (.5 60 Min, .5 15 min)
2 oz UK First Gold (.5 FWH, .5 5 min, 1 oz dry)
This one got a little too cool once I added the grain - about 145 degrees. Slowly brought the temperature up to ~153, added the First Gold.
Okay, so Adam Smith II has so far done fairly well - the Adam Smith III is showing some problems. The F.G is around 1.023, and the O.G. was much lower than 1.050, so this is going to be a mild brew. In addition, I aerated it while transferring into the secondary, since I thought it was a stuck fermentation. Well, it wasn't, so I just aerated a finished beer. Bad news. I'm going to do 1/4 cup sugar for the ASII, and 1/3 for the ASIII, in case I took too much CO2 out while aerating it. This could be bad news.
This attempt will be hampered by two facts: 1) My left over yeast from the Adam Smith has spoiled and 2) I ordered the ingredients a while back. One of the sets of grain is not even cracked, so we will have to make do with the food processor.
Adam Smith II - The Invisible Hand.
All Grain
Yeast - ? The one that smelled best from the fridge.
3 Gallons
6 lbs Gambrinus ESB Pale (base malt, crushed, a little old)
.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
.25 lbs Briess Carapils
1 oz New Zealand Motueka (.25 First Wort, .5 60min, .25 15 min)
2 oz UK First Gold (.50 First Wort, .50 5 min, 1 oz dry hop)
Stats from iBrewMaster:
Predicted O.G. 1.050 F.G. 1.015 ABV: 4.59%, 52 IBU
Actual O.G. 1.053.
Mashed at ~151-153F for 60 minutes. Added the First Wort hop additions around 50 minutes into it. Had a second pot of water boiling alongside. I left the stove on low, and that kept the temperature about stable.
Adam Smith III
All Grain
Yeast - Safbrew S-33 Dry Ale Yeast
3 Gallons
6 lbs British Golden Promise
.5 lbs Belgian Aromatic Malt
.25 lbs Breiss Carapils
1 oz UK WGV (.5 60 Min, .5 15 min)
2 oz UK First Gold (.5 FWH, .5 5 min, 1 oz dry)
This one got a little too cool once I added the grain - about 145 degrees. Slowly brought the temperature up to ~153, added the First Gold.
Okay, so Adam Smith II has so far done fairly well - the Adam Smith III is showing some problems. The F.G is around 1.023, and the O.G. was much lower than 1.050, so this is going to be a mild brew. In addition, I aerated it while transferring into the secondary, since I thought it was a stuck fermentation. Well, it wasn't, so I just aerated a finished beer. Bad news. I'm going to do 1/4 cup sugar for the ASII, and 1/3 for the ASIII, in case I took too much CO2 out while aerating it. This could be bad news.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Menger Bitter
I have moved on to all-grain for my brewing! Instead of using extract syrup or dried extract, it's all-barley, all the time!
My AG inaugural brew I'm calling the 'Menger Bitter', since it's the first, and it's bitter... so yeah.
I don't actually have an all-grain getup, instead I did "brew in a bag" - I bought some fabric on Amazon, which I'm using to hold the grain. On to the recipe!
Batch Size: 3 Gallons.
Estimated - OG: 1.043, FG: 1.013. IBU 60.21 ABV 3.93
4 lbs Rahr 2-Row
.33 lbs Simpsons Caramalt
.20 lbs Aromatic Malt
6 oz Raw Sugar
.80 OZ Northdown (7.2 AA, 60 mins)
.35 OZ Northdown (45 Mins)
1 OZ East Kent Goldings (5 mins)
Whirfloc tablet (15 mins)
Yeast: Neobrittania (saved from last batch)
I mashed the grains at 151 degrees for an hour (temp fluctuated between 150 and 153). I removed the bag and brought the thing to a boil.
It's still on right now, so I don't know how it's going to go. I don't have any special wort chiller either, so that might harm the beer.
In other news, Anna and I reorganized the room! The couch is now in the middle of the apartment and the TV is against the wall - it splits the room in two, which is a good thing!
The last beer, so far, has turned out well. I only got 21 beers worth out of it, but the F.G was 1.011, and is quite mild...
My AG inaugural brew I'm calling the 'Menger Bitter', since it's the first, and it's bitter... so yeah.
I don't actually have an all-grain getup, instead I did "brew in a bag" - I bought some fabric on Amazon, which I'm using to hold the grain. On to the recipe!
Batch Size: 3 Gallons.
Estimated - OG: 1.043, FG: 1.013. IBU 60.21 ABV 3.93
4 lbs Rahr 2-Row
.33 lbs Simpsons Caramalt
.20 lbs Aromatic Malt
6 oz Raw Sugar
.80 OZ Northdown (7.2 AA, 60 mins)
.35 OZ Northdown (45 Mins)
1 OZ East Kent Goldings (5 mins)
Whirfloc tablet (15 mins)
Yeast: Neobrittania (saved from last batch)
I mashed the grains at 151 degrees for an hour (temp fluctuated between 150 and 153). I removed the bag and brought the thing to a boil.
It's still on right now, so I don't know how it's going to go. I don't have any special wort chiller either, so that might harm the beer.
In other news, Anna and I reorganized the room! The couch is now in the middle of the apartment and the TV is against the wall - it splits the room in two, which is a good thing!
The last beer, so far, has turned out well. I only got 21 beers worth out of it, but the F.G was 1.011, and is quite mild...
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Brew Day!
I know Anna and I have fallen down on keeping the blog updated. Yet, there's still brewing! Perhaps we'll get on top of updating the blog soon...
But for now, I'm going to take notes on my brews for the day.
The first beer is based on Northern Brewer's AK47 Pale Mild recipe. I decided that 5 gallon batches were not always necessary, so I got a 3 gallon Better Bottle that I'm going to use to ferment smaller batches...
The stats:
Boil size - 3.75 gallons, batch size 3 gallons.
Estimated O.G. 1.043, F.G. 1.011
Calories: 140, 29 IBU, 4.06 ABV.
Ingredients:
2 LBS Breiss Pilsen Light DME
.5 LBS Corn Sugar
1 oz Fawcett Pale Chocolate Grain
.5 LBS Simpsons Caramalt
1 OZ Kent Golding (.75 OZ 60 mmin, .25 OZ 15 mins) 5.8 AA, 3.2 BA
Wyeast Neobritania Yeast
1 Whirfloc tablet
The benefit of a 3 gallon batch is that it lets me boil the entire batch, and will eventually let me do full grain batches. I'm purifying the water in the Brita before adding it to the pot... about 3 gallons worth.
I don't have a scale, so instead of weighing the grain malts I eyeballed it... I have 1 lb packs of each, and put about half of the Simpsons and 1/2 cup of the Fawcett in.
I'm under-adding the water - the new carboy has a different spout, so I can't use a blowoff tube. The end result may be less than 3 gallons, so I'm withholding some of the hops and corn sugar. I put in 2/3 Cups of corn sugar, which comes to (around) .4 lbs.
Actual O.G. 1.043/1.044 - pretty close!
The next one is Northern Brewer's Rye Stout
I wanted to do something with Rye - we'll see how this goes.
.5 lbs Chocolate Rye
.5 lbs England Black Malt
.5 lbs English Dark Crystal
(added) .5 lbs Fawcett Pale Chocolate
6.3 lbs Northern Brewer Dark Rye Extract
1 oz Warrior (60 min)
Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50
Update in a bit.
But for now, I'm going to take notes on my brews for the day.
The first beer is based on Northern Brewer's AK47 Pale Mild recipe. I decided that 5 gallon batches were not always necessary, so I got a 3 gallon Better Bottle that I'm going to use to ferment smaller batches...
The stats:
Boil size - 3.75 gallons, batch size 3 gallons.
Estimated O.G. 1.043, F.G. 1.011
Calories: 140, 29 IBU, 4.06 ABV.
Ingredients:
2 LBS Breiss Pilsen Light DME
.5 LBS Corn Sugar
1 oz Fawcett Pale Chocolate Grain
.5 LBS Simpsons Caramalt
1 OZ Kent Golding (.75 OZ 60 mmin, .25 OZ 15 mins) 5.8 AA, 3.2 BA
Wyeast Neobritania Yeast
1 Whirfloc tablet
The benefit of a 3 gallon batch is that it lets me boil the entire batch, and will eventually let me do full grain batches. I'm purifying the water in the Brita before adding it to the pot... about 3 gallons worth.
I don't have a scale, so instead of weighing the grain malts I eyeballed it... I have 1 lb packs of each, and put about half of the Simpsons and 1/2 cup of the Fawcett in.
I'm under-adding the water - the new carboy has a different spout, so I can't use a blowoff tube. The end result may be less than 3 gallons, so I'm withholding some of the hops and corn sugar. I put in 2/3 Cups of corn sugar, which comes to (around) .4 lbs.
Actual O.G. 1.043/1.044 - pretty close!
The next one is Northern Brewer's Rye Stout
I wanted to do something with Rye - we'll see how this goes.
.5 lbs Chocolate Rye
.5 lbs England Black Malt
.5 lbs English Dark Crystal
(added) .5 lbs Fawcett Pale Chocolate
6.3 lbs Northern Brewer Dark Rye Extract
1 oz Warrior (60 min)
Wyeast 1450 Denny's Favorite 50
Update in a bit.
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Rocky Mountain Ale
So, I want to get a record of my most recent concoction: The Rocky Mountain Ale/Porter. It is based off of the "Goat Scrotum Ale" in The Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Here is what I used:
5 lbs plain dark malt extract (I think 3 lbs were builk, 2 lbs Breiss)
1 lb crystal malt
.25 lb black patent malt
.25 lb roasted barley
2 oz Cluster hops (60 minutes)
.5 American Fuggle (finishing - 5 or 10 minutes)
1 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. Molasses
2 tsp Gypsum
0 Corn Sugar (the recipe called for 1 lb - I thought it would be alcoholic enough)
3 oz fresh, grated ginger
2 oz dry ginger
2 oz licorice root (dry)
3 large red peppers
1 oz dried juniper berries, crushed
3 oz unsweetened Baker's chocolate
Whitelabs 012 London Ale Yeast
O.G. 1.066
F.G. 1.017
Estimated ABV: 6.43%
The DPA is a very good beer, but so far this one is my favorite. When it's cold it doesn't taste any different from a normal porter. When it warms up a little though, the red pepper and the ginger come through really well. There's a slight tang of dark fruit, with a combination of spice, ginger, and juniper numbness. I like it quite a bit.
5 lbs plain dark malt extract (I think 3 lbs were builk, 2 lbs Breiss)
1 lb crystal malt
.25 lb black patent malt
.25 lb roasted barley
2 oz Cluster hops (60 minutes)
.5 American Fuggle (finishing - 5 or 10 minutes)
1 c. Brown Sugar
1 c. Molasses
2 tsp Gypsum
0 Corn Sugar (the recipe called for 1 lb - I thought it would be alcoholic enough)
3 oz fresh, grated ginger
2 oz dry ginger
2 oz licorice root (dry)
3 large red peppers
1 oz dried juniper berries, crushed
3 oz unsweetened Baker's chocolate
Whitelabs 012 London Ale Yeast
O.G. 1.066
F.G. 1.017
Estimated ABV: 6.43%
The DPA is a very good beer, but so far this one is my favorite. When it's cold it doesn't taste any different from a normal porter. When it warms up a little though, the red pepper and the ginger come through really well. There's a slight tang of dark fruit, with a combination of spice, ginger, and juniper numbness. I like it quite a bit.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Beer Update
Hello everybody! I know that neither of us have updated the blog recently, because we've both been super busy, but I figured I would write something quick while Anna was on the phone.
I'm getting back into the homebrew swing of things, so I figured I would update people with what I've been doing. Also, so I can remember.
1: Elbro Nerkte "My Way" Brown Ale. I have already posted about this one. The flavor has evolved, as I noted previously. Started mild, then the hop character shone through. We're pretty much out, but the remaining ones have lost much of their hop character and now the unfiltered water taste (I was lazy first time through) overpowers the good stuff. Overall, this batch was a success.
2. Walter Williams Patriot Porter. Recipe's on here. It's super heavy/malty, with a prune-ish flavor. I didn't like this at first - too heavy - but other people have responded positively to it, and I think it's improving with age.
3. Maple Syrup Amber. Recipe posted here, I think. It's not a bad beer, but I have to label this one a failure. The overcarbonation ruins things for me: It's a lot like drinking a fizzy soda.
4. Scottish Enlightenment. I don't know what happened to this one. I think what I did was boil and add the priming sugar to the top of the bottling bucket, then bottle from the bottom. A few have been carbonated, but most of them are flat. The upside is that the two failed beers here go well together - the Amber is over, the Scottish is under, and together they make a normal (okay-tasting) beer.
5. North Berlinner-Weiss. I briefly posted about this one: It's a sour beer with around 2.5-3% ABV. I let it sit in the primary for about seven months; I just couldn't get myself to bottle it. That changed when Daniel was here, and a division of labor made things go much quicker. It's carbonating well, but I'm still skeptical about the taste. These have been traditionally mixed with fruit syrup, so we need to get some.
6. Dark IPA (I wrote "DPA" because I couldn't decide between Deschutes Pale Ale and Dark Pale Ale. I have since realized that "Double Penetration Ale" also fits this acronym, so we've been calling it that.) This was a Northern Brewer Kit that I didn't alter at all (their Dark IPA kit...). It is maltier and much less hoppy (and boozier) than I expected (it sits around 7.0% ABV). Lots of corn sugar in there, as well...
I'll update soon with the Goat Scrotum, the recently bottled fun porter...
I'm getting back into the homebrew swing of things, so I figured I would update people with what I've been doing. Also, so I can remember.
1: Elbro Nerkte "My Way" Brown Ale. I have already posted about this one. The flavor has evolved, as I noted previously. Started mild, then the hop character shone through. We're pretty much out, but the remaining ones have lost much of their hop character and now the unfiltered water taste (I was lazy first time through) overpowers the good stuff. Overall, this batch was a success.
2. Walter Williams Patriot Porter. Recipe's on here. It's super heavy/malty, with a prune-ish flavor. I didn't like this at first - too heavy - but other people have responded positively to it, and I think it's improving with age.
3. Maple Syrup Amber. Recipe posted here, I think. It's not a bad beer, but I have to label this one a failure. The overcarbonation ruins things for me: It's a lot like drinking a fizzy soda.
4. Scottish Enlightenment. I don't know what happened to this one. I think what I did was boil and add the priming sugar to the top of the bottling bucket, then bottle from the bottom. A few have been carbonated, but most of them are flat. The upside is that the two failed beers here go well together - the Amber is over, the Scottish is under, and together they make a normal (okay-tasting) beer.
5. North Berlinner-Weiss. I briefly posted about this one: It's a sour beer with around 2.5-3% ABV. I let it sit in the primary for about seven months; I just couldn't get myself to bottle it. That changed when Daniel was here, and a division of labor made things go much quicker. It's carbonating well, but I'm still skeptical about the taste. These have been traditionally mixed with fruit syrup, so we need to get some.
6. Dark IPA (I wrote "DPA" because I couldn't decide between Deschutes Pale Ale and Dark Pale Ale. I have since realized that "Double Penetration Ale" also fits this acronym, so we've been calling it that.) This was a Northern Brewer Kit that I didn't alter at all (their Dark IPA kit...). It is maltier and much less hoppy (and boozier) than I expected (it sits around 7.0% ABV). Lots of corn sugar in there, as well...
I'll update soon with the Goat Scrotum, the recently bottled fun porter...
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