Bottling the Red Lager and Cream Ale

It was time to bottle both beers that were in the secondary conditioning stage. The Red Squirrel Lager had been lagering (sort of - I could only keep the temperature at around 50 - 60 degrees) for four months. It should be nice, smooth, and ideal for session drinking at this point. The Canada Goose Cream Ale conditioned for about a month. It also turned out good and clean. After the bottles carbonate, a batch will be traveling to Sweden to share with the fellow brewmasters who participated in the all-grain brew day for this ale. Final results: Red Squirrel Lager - one mini keg, thirty-seven 12oz. bottles Canada Goose Cream Ale - one mini keg, thirty-nine 12oz. bottles

Moving the Cream Ale

Today we moved the cream ale. Final gravity was 1.002 so it should be a good drinking beer at 5%. Also, it turned out pretty clear so positive results all around. Now for a nice conditioning period before bottling.

Brew Day - Canada Goose Cream Ale (AG)

Another brew day was upon us on Saturday.  A group of family and friends was on site to brew an all-grain version of a fan favorite, the Canada Goose Cream Ale.  Good times were had by all and we hopefully will have a solid beer as a final reward.
O.G.: 1.040
Ingredients:
7 lbs. Domestic 2-Row Barley
2 lbs. Flaked Corn
8 oz. Carapils speciality grains
2 oz. Cascade hops (bittering and aroma)

Moving the Red Lager

I just moved the red lager into the aging vessel to let it clear up a bit more.  Fermentation was strong, ending at 1.002.  As such, we have a solid 4% lager for drinking on the deck this summer.  I plan to bottle the beer in late April so it has a good eight to ten weeks of secondary time.  A few weeks of carbonation and its Red Squirrel Lager time!

Brew Day - Red Lager

After such a successful all-grain pale ale product (Furious Cat), I decided on a lark to brew this weekend.  Basically, the last extract brew left me thirsty for another all-grain beer.  So we ran to the local home brew store (LHBS), bought some ingredients, and lit the burner.
The brew went pretty well.  I got a bit impatient during the sparge but it still turned out fine.  The starting gravity is a bit low but as long as we achieve at least 75% attenuation, this should turn out to be a good session beer.
O.G. - 1.032
Ingredients:
9 lbs. Domestic Pilsner
8 oz. Carapils, 12 oz. Caramel 40L, and 2 oz. Debittered Black speciality grains
2 oz. Hallertau hops (bittering and aroma)
Also, I used White Labs yeast this time (the LHBS doesn't carry Wyeast). 

Moving the Pale Ale

While moving the pale ale today, I decided to try dry-hopping for the first time.  Recently, a friend gave be some home-grown Nugget hops.  For experimental value, I used two 2.5 gallon carboys - one for the original pale ale and the other for the pale ale with the Nugget hops.  I added half an ounce of the hop flowers for the two week secondary period.  Here's to a little more hoppiness.

Finishing gravity: 1.010 (4.3% ABV)

Brew Day - Pale Ale (All-Grain)

Yesterday was my first all-grain brew day.  I have been putting off moving to all-grain until I felt settled in a place and had the space to store the additional equipment.  I chose a pale ale recipe because it seemed like a good "standard" beer to attempt and compare quality results.  We shall see.

For those who are not aware of the difference between all-grain and extract brewing, here is a very brief (and elementary) explanation.  In all-grain brewing, we take malted grains and "mash" them to release the sugars needed for beer brewing.  Essentially, mashing is soaking them in water around 152 degrees F and sparging (i.e. rinsing) the grains to pull the sugars out.  After this is done, you take the sugar liquid and begin brewing.  With extract brewing, this process is done commercially and arrives in a syrup (liquid malt extract) or powdered (dried malt extract) form.  The claim is that the extract produces a more noticeable flavor (often referred to as a "twang") that identifies it as homebrewed (versus commercially-brewed).  I don't know how much truth exists in this claim nowadays, with maltsters and extract manufactures producing some very high quality products that result in very good beer.  One other difference is that extract brewers often steep a bag of speciality grains prior to boiling to add body, flavor, and color that are not produced in the malt extracts.  These speciality grains are mixed with the other grains during the mash with all-grain brewing.

So..., brewing went generally well for a first attempt.  The mashing process was generally fine.  I probably should have got the water a little hotter to start so that it would have stayed above 150 degrees F until the end.  But it only ended around 145 degrees F so it wasn't that detrimental to the final product.  I did a quick iodine test and the sugars had definitely converted.  (You can drop iodine on a sample of the liquid and, if it's not ready, it will turn purple.  You can also taste it and see if it is sweet.)

Sparging was okay.  The water was a little too hot and it flowed a bit faster than it should have.  But, considering I had no reference point to base an estimated flow rate, it seems fine.  It should have taken 30-60 minutes to sparge with the best efficiency.  I finished in about 17 minutes.  Also, I misjudged the necessary volume for a five-gallon batch.  I thought I had too much liquid but I only ended up with four-and-a-half gallons of wort in the end.  Obviously there was some boil off; however, I clearly underestimated.

With the exception of one boil-over, the boil went fine.  A few close calls though (a lot of foaming).  Also, a "duh" moment.  I had been having trouble with the propane burner going out often.  I restricted the air intake and everything is perfect now.  Stupid is as stupid does.

O.G. - 1.042

Ingredients:

10.5 lbs. Domestic 2-Row Barley
8 oz. Carapils and 8 oz. Caramel 40L speciality grains
1 oz. Williamette hops (bittering)
1 oz. U.S. Fuggles hops (aroma)