Bottling the Pale Ale

It's been a while since my last post but there's a simple reason: not much has been happening. Today we bottled the Trojan Celebration Ale. A nice hoppy pale ale with good clarity and color. End count: fifty-one 12oz. bottles. Four more weeks in the bottle and we can celebrate last night's Emerald Bowl win against Boston College (24-13). As if they had a chance.

Moving the Cream Ale

Last night I moved the second generation Canada Goose Cream Ale from the primary into the aging vessel. It looks nice and clean. A few more weeks in the secondary should settle any remaining particles. The first generation version of this beer was very good but it had more sediment in the bottles than I would have liked - the goal is none. Thus, we are already ahead of where we ended up with the last batch.

Final gravity - 1.008. ABV should be around 3.7%.

A quick note: I consider this beer to be the first brew in my 2010 line-up. Even though it started in 2009 (and is on the 2009 Brew Schedule), it won't be ready for consumption until well after the New Year. The last beer in my 2009 line-up is the Trojan Celebration Ale, which will be uncapping right before the 2009 year-end tasting party. Details to come!

Bottling, Tasting, and Brewing (oh, my!)

It was a long weekend but a busy one for the Brewhus. First off, we bottled the Broc Irish Stout and, frankly, this one is going to be a great one. Awesome dry stout taste with a clean finish... and that was on bottling day. A few weeks of conditioning and we will have a winner. End count: fifty-three 12oz. bottles.

Second, we uncapped Tomten's Jul Öl on Thanksgiving and it was fantastic. The aroma was full of holiday spice and the flavor was clean and magnificent. Even though we used 22oz. bombers, I expect they won't last very long. Better get 'em while they're hot (er, cold)!

Third, Friday was a brew day: Canada Goose Cream Ale. This is the second generation of this beer - that is, I previously brewed a cream ale under this label and, although it is not the exact same recipe, it should come out similar enough. Note: Brewing on day two of a four day weekend was really nice - plenty of time and no pressure. I need to find a similar weekend to do so again.

Starting gravity: 1.036

Ingredients:

6 lb. Gold LME
8 oz. Carapils specialty grains
2 oz. Cascade hops

Finally, after a solid win against our cross-town rivals, the pale ale is officially labeled Trojan Celebration Ale.

Moving the Pale Ale

Last night we moved the Pale Ale from the primary fermentation vessel to the secondary aging vessel. There was a heck of a lot of yeast/hops/etc. in the bottom of the initial carboy; however, the brew was very clear after moving and straining it. Finishing gravity is around 1.006, resulting in about 3.7% ABV.

Note: This beer is tentatively named Trojan Celebration Ale but, if Southern Cal doesn't win against UCLA this weekend, it will be re-named Trojan Condolence Ale.

Brew Day - Pale Ale

Today I brewed my second partial mash recipe. Partial mash, as the name implies, is a middle step between extract and all-grain brewing. Basically, it involves heating the grains to around 150-155 degrees F and maintaining that temperature to release the sugars within the grains. Then, you sparge (wash) the sugars off the grains and into the brew kettle. It takes more time but (supposedly) you have more control of the wort quality and a "cleaner" tasting beer. This definitely stands true with all-grain but I am on the fence as to partial mash (since some processed malt extract is used to supplement the wort.)

My last experience with a partial mash recipe was so-so; I think this one will end up better. Still, I am not sure that the extra time will significantly improve the final product. We shall see.

Starting Gravity: 1.034

Ingredients:

3.3lbs Light LME
4lbs. American 2-Row Malt
8oz. Carapils speciality grains
8oz. Caramel 10*L speciality grains
3oz. Cascade hops (bittering, flavoring, and aroma)

Bottling - El Hefe

We bottled the El Hefe last night after a short secondary period of just under two weeks (just long enough to allow any bigger particles to settle out.) Very nice hazy orange-gold color. As for mouthfeel, it seemed a little heavy but I am sure that will lessen after four to six weeks of bottle conditioning. Taste? Great. If only I had made this beer before summer.

Fifty-four 12oz. bottles (23 of them are Grolsch-style flip top bottles - seemed fitting for a hefeweizen). Also, we went ahead and labeled the bottles as well. A finishing gravity of 1.010 results in an ABV of around 4.7%. El Hefe!

Another Loss and a Tasting Update

One more bottle went boom this week - this time it was a spruce ale. Both the licorice and spruce ales were primed "manually" (my term for adding sugar to each bottle instead of a full bucket.) While it is possible that too much corn sugar caused them to explode, it also seems likely that the warmth upstairs was the main culprit (it is now around 70 degrees instead of the usual 60-65 degrees.) As such, I moved all of the experimental beers down to the basement storage, which is much cooler.

We tasted a bottle of the Questionable Stout last night and I have mixed feelings. That is, we definitely have drinkable beer but it is far from style. Basically, a dry stout should have prominent coffee/roasted flavors with slight chocolate notes. The Questionable Stout has a stronger chocolate flavor with a much more limited roasted presence. Also, the beer is missing the creamy mouthfeel that dry stouts should offer. In short, with a little more aging this beer will be fit for consumption but not for competition.

Boom!

So I discovered that some of the licorice ales exploded today. Yes, over-carbonation creates glass grenades. Luckily, I store in closed boxes so there was limited collateral damage. But, now I only have four bottles instead of nine. I moved the remaining bottles down to the basement where it is cooler and this should halt the carbonation process. Oh, well.

El Hefe and Crazy Bear Update

Last night we moved the El Hefe from the primary fermentation vessel to the secondary aging vessel. I don't actually intend to keep it in the secondary for more than a week, as I prefer to bottle age it. Why secondary then? While hefeweizens are supposed to be hazy, I still think it would be beneficial to allow some of the larger sediment to settle out prior to bottling. Moving from vessel to vessel helps do that. Finishing gravity: 1.010. Estimated ABV should be 4.80%.

Also, I drank the final bottle of the regular stock of Crazy Bear Honey Nut Brown Ale last night. It was a bittersweet moment (not the flavor) because this was my first blue ribbon beer; but, it does open up space for new brews. The next (and last) time this beer will touch my tongue is when we have the 2009 Brewing Year Recap party. Until then....

Bottling - Coffee Stout

Saturday was a bottling day - fifty-four 12oz. bottles of Joe's Java (a coffee stout). Before aging for over a month, I cold-pressed 4oz. of coffee beans and added the resulting java to the wort. Although it has no carbonation yet, I already expect a phenomenal end product. The coffee flavor is resting in the background with a comfortable stout body. In short, this should be a mellow but flavorful beer. Finishing gravity: 1.010 means about 3.4%ABV.

Bottling - Holiday Brew

Last night we bottled the Tomten's Jul Öl, a holiday ale to be uncapped around Thanksgiving. The aroma of brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon wafted out of the bottling bucket, creating strong anticipation of the final results. This beer was brewed on 6/21/2009 and has been aging in a secondary vessel since. With a finishing gravity of 1.018, this brew should come in around 5.33% ABV, enough to provide some decent holiday cheer.

The successful bottling yielded twenty-six 22oz. bottles, one half-liter bottle, and one 25.5oz. bottle.

The tomten is a mythical Swedish gnome associated with Christmas (duties similar to Santa Claus). Jul Öl roughly translates to Christmas beer.

Brew Day - Hefeweizen

Sunday was Brew Day and, despite the cold, dreary weather, Hefeweizen brewing went well. A brief boil over occurred directly after the malt addition but nothing excessive. An interesting difference/change in this brew was the dried malt extract (DME). I usually stick to liquid malt extract (LME) only but this recipe called for one pound of DME and six pounds of LME. The added DME should really boost the alcohol and substance of the beer. It should turn out nice and "hefe-ty". Starting gravity was 1.046.

This is my second wheat beer - the first being the Cherry Wheatseeker. That beer took second in its class (Fruit Beer) this summer at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair. The main (sort of) negative comments about it centered around the cherry flavor. Hopefully, the Hefeweizen will maintain the positive aspects.

The ingredients:

6 lbs. Wheat LME
1 lb. Light DME
8 oz. Carapils specialty grains
1 oz. Tettnang hops (bittering)
No aroma hops

Festival and Bottling

Several beer-related details from the weekend. On Saturday, the Maryland Beer Festival provided a solid opportunity for tasting the area's best (and worst) beers. Still going through the notes though. One of the top beers was DuClaw Brewing Company's Sawtooth Belgian White Ale -just a really great beer.

Also, we did some bottling on Sunday: Questionable Stout, Old Tjikko, and Dropwater Ale. QS is still questionable but, with a finishing gravity of 1.020, it meets the technical definition of beer (but only with a little over 50% attenuation.) OT is a bit light on taste (and alcohol); however, with aging, it may turn out to be a nice, refreshing beverage. DA has a cider-aroma to it but, has real promise. I intended to prime the DA with molasses then changed my mind (since I am not familiar enough with the priming properties of said sugar.)

Finally, we moved the Broc Irish Stout to secondary for a nice aging period. Although many people say that Irish Stouts don't really need aging, I find that dark beers of all sorts benefit from a period to "mellow out".

Progress???

First, the good: Broc Irish Stout is bubbling away with a nice layer of krausen (the foamy head created by yeast activity during primary fermentation). I noticed airlock activity within the first 24 hours. This means a solid yeast start and (hopefully) good performance.

Next, the okay: Licorice ale ("Dropwater Ale") had a reasonable drop in gravity (1.042 to 1.020) but still less than 3% ABV (alcohol by volume). The "okay" part is that I didn't really taste what I was expecting. I will let it age - time has a way of improving beer. As to the name, Dutch youth make a type of licorice water out of root and laurel called Dropwater. I thought it sounded cool and refreshing.

Finally, the "meh": The spruce ale ("Old Tjikko Ale") had strange performance. Basically, it created less than one percent ABV but fully carbonated while in the carboy. Currently, it tastes like a low sugar birch beer. Not too surprising. I'll give it a couple of more weeks as well. This name: Old Tjikko is a Norway Spruce in Sweden, stated to be the oldest living individual clonal tree (9,550 years old).

Brew Day - Irish Stout

Yesterday was Brew Day – Broc Irish Stout. I have been looking for a beer to name after a badger (for no particular reason other than it struck my fancy one day) and this seemed appropriate. Brock is the name for a European badger and in Gaelic it is spelled Broc. Hence, the name of this beer.

It was a nice day for brewing. The sun was out but it was cool enough to stand next to five gallons of boiling wort. I was a bit nervous using the propane burner again, as the last time I did flames shot out of places they shouldn’t. In fact this is the second attempt at this particular beer, as the aforementioned brew day resulted in Questionable Stout (currently in secondary fermentation). Things turned out fine this time though. Added a teaspoon of gypsum to the water to increase the calcium and make the Maryland water a bit crisper. Starting gravity is 1.040.

If you are interested, here’s the breakdown of ingredients:

6 lbs. Dark LME
4 oz. Chocolate Malt
4 oz. Caramel 10°L
4 oz. Roasted Barley
4 oz. Flaked Barley
½ oz. Nugget hops (bittering)
1 oz. Williamette hops (aroma)

Mmmm… simple but tasty.

Experimental Beers

Sometimes learning is about taking chances. One of the beer books on my shelf is Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Buhner (No, I am not a hippie.) The ideas in this book range from different to crazy but it offers opportunities to try new flavors and styles that are out of the ordinary for beers. Hopefully, this will improve my beers in the future by increasing my palate of tastes to choose from when creating my own recipes. As such, Sunday I brewed two experimental beers: a spruce ale and a licorice ale.

Fermentables in experimental beers like these can vary and sometimes the yeast takes a bit longer to get going. I am sure a yeast starter would have been a good option. I will have to note that for the next experimental beer. This evening I noticed action in the airlock. Not a lot but some bubbling is better than none.

Return of the "Brog"

Four years ago I began the magnificent hobby known as home brewing. My first beer, Perkele Pils, was a reasonable success. While brewing that first batch, I felt compelled to share my freshman efforts with those I knew and/or respected. As such, I started the brog (brew-log). Unfortunately, after several valiant efforts, other aspects of life pushed this hobby to the back burner and my brog lapsed.

At the beginning of this year I made a pledge: to dedicate myself to brewing regularly and to becoming a better brewer with every batch (which doesn't necessarily mean a better beer product.) 2009 has proved to be a good brewing year and, although I have experienced some of the breaks, I have learned much and enjoyed even more. As such, it seems only appropriate to begin sharing these trials, tribulations, and (of course) successes again. What to expect: brewing experiences, beer tastings, competitions, label designs, and more.

So, grab a beer (preferably one of mine) and enjoy the ride. (Techincally, you don't have to drink to follow this brog but it helps.)

Cheers!