Vlog 2011-03-13 Growler Fill IPA Tasting and Homebrew Challenges

Just what it says in the title. I take my first taste of the carbonated version of the Growler Fill IPA and I talk a bit about what I'm planning for the two homebrew challenges currently around on Youtube.

Zymurgical Explorations Vlog 2011-01-16

That's right, a new vlog despite my semi-absence.



Channels mentioned in this vid:
www.youtube.com/monkeycaveman
www.youtube.com/elharlock
www.youtube.com/StumpyJoeJr
www.youtube.com/TheMasterofHoppets
www.youtube.com/Yuichituba
www.youtube.com/BeerichiTuba

Cesky-Weizen Tasting

Bottled it a week ago, figured I'd pop it open and give it a shot.



You can watch the brew session in which I made it if you want. Part One is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MhZdObmFj4

and Part Two is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucN3RNz1lvs

My Homebrew: Cesky-Weizen

I decided to do a sort of "day in the life" of a homebrewer here. I brewed a new recipe, what I'm calling a Cesky-weizen, because it's a hefeweizen made with Czech hops and with a bit more caramel malt to give it the sweetness of the pilsners I had in the Czech Republic.

In part one of the video I go shopping for ingredients, describe what goes into the beer, and describe how to make a mash tun and do the general prepwork that goes into making beer.



Part Two shows the mash, the sparge, the boil, and just general goofing around in between.



I hope you guys like these videos. I'm planning on doing some version of this (but probably shorter) on every brew day, so let me know if there's anything you want to see.

Don Osborn's site is here. You can go there to lean how to make the mash tun I use. His Youtube channel is @donosborn. He makes great videos -- check him out.

Cesky-Weizen Recipe:
6lbs Pilsner Malt
4lbs Wheat Malt
2 lbs Red Wheat Malt
1lb Caramel Malt 60L
1 oz Saaz (90 min)
.5 oz Saaz (30 min)
.5 oz Saaz (15 min)
1 vial White Labs Hefeweizen IV yeast (from starter)

Abita SOS (Save Our Shore)

Abita SOS (Save Our Shore) (bottle)
Abita Springs, LA
7.0% ABV

I shot this while I was waiting out the boil on a homebrew session. I shot a bunch of video during the homebrew, and will be uploading that in the next couple of days, probably over the weekend.

I went into this not expecting much, but the Abita SOS is actually a very nice, clean, refreshing German-style Pilsner, one that stands up to pretty much any beer I've had. It compares nicely even with the lagers I had in the Czech Republic, which is saying something.

Seventy-five cents of every bottle goes to recovery efforts from the oil spill in the Gulf, so this is worth purchasing for two reasons -- the quality, and the charity.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 8.0/10

The Drink Like a Fish charity concert video:

Lagunitas IPA

Lagunitas IPA (bottle)
Petaluma, CA
5.7% ABV

Pretty much the definition of a grapefruity American IPA. Lots of pine, a whole lot of grapefruit.

This is a pretty short review. I shot it late at night and talk a bit about my plans for the day after the review -- a homebrew session, which I shot and will be uploading soon.



Zymurgical Explorations rating: 7.5/10

Video: Tasting the Homebrewed Andrews Wedding Amber

This was a beer I made up for my sister's wedding last May. It was loosely based on an India Red Ale that I had made last year, but with less hops, and this one was made all-grain as opposed to the India Red in which I was still using extract. I'm pretty happy with how this beer turned out, so I figured I'd shoot a short video talking about it.

You can view the recipe here.



Sorry about the quality of the vid as this was a spur-of-the-moment decision and I was in the midst of cooking dinner when I shot the review.

There's also a bit of bonus cat footage at the end for those interested in that sort of thing.

Video: Tasting the Homebrewed Abbey Dubbel

I taste my homebrewed Belgian Dubbel for the first time, which has a rather... storied history. Unfortunately it didn't turn out to well -- perhaps I should call this Dale's Dead-Bug Dubbel?

You can view my original post about this beer here.

My Homebrew: Abbey Ale

I actually brewed this on May 27, as any of you who might have been reading my Twitter would probably already know, but I forgot to do the formal write-up of my recipe and such.

10 lbs Vienna Malt
1 lb Belgian Biscuit Malt
1 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Belgian Special B Malt
1 oz Styrian Goldings (60 min)
0.5 oz Saaz (30 min)
0.5 oz Saaz (15 min)
White Labs Abbey Ale Yeast (WLP530)

The wort ended up a tad bit on the dark side, which is probably a sign that I used too much chocolate malt. I'll cut back to half a pound if I make a similar batch again. I probably mashed with just a tad too much water, as my gravity reading was only 1.055, a bit below my target. Oh well, it smelled good when I was boiling and I'll bet it turns out fine.

I'm thinking I may do a DIPA next and let it age while I'm in Prague for July. Always open to suggestions, though....

Andrews Wedding Amber

A few weeks ago, my sister asked me to officiate her upcoming wedding. After consulting with Shana for travel arrangements (we'll have to be there a day or two earlier than expected and such) I agreed, and offered to make a batch of beer to commemorate the wedding. Since she and her fiancee don't drink a lot of good beer, I decided to make something that would be readily accessible to pretty much anyone, yet with enough quality that I'd be proud to offer it.

The Andrews Wedding Amber was born. Here's the recipe:

10lbs Pale Malt
1 lb Honey Malt
1 lb Crystal 50L

1 oz Kent Goldings (60 min)
.5 oz Chinook (30 min)
.5 oz Chinook (15 min)

White Labs Pacific Ale Yeast (WLP041)

I mashed at around 155 and ended up perhaps using a bit took little water because I only collected about two gallons from first runnings. Once I sparged I got it up to five gallons or so after the boil, and my gravity reading was 1.053, which was in the expected range. I'm getting more comfortable with all-grain brewing, and would definitely like to start doing it more often.

All-Grain Milk Stout

I just had a long brew day. This was my first all-grain brewing experience, and I feel like it turned out pretty well, although I'll definitely change a few things in my next batch. Lots of fun, and hopefully the beer will taste amazing.

Here's the recipe I used.

7.5 lb Maris Otter malt
2 lb Chocolate malt
1 lb Crystal 20L
2/3 lb lactose
1 oz Northern Brewer (60 min)
1 oz Fuggles (30 min)
1 vial White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004)

(Note about that "2/3 lb lactose." The second beer I ever made was an Oatmeal Stout and I didn't have a scale at the time. I wanted to use about a quarter pound of lactose and eyeballed it. Today I weighed what I had left, shrugged, and decided to use it instead of the pound of lactose I bought yesterday.)

I ended up with a FG of 1.042, which was on the low side, but it came about because I had some temperature control problems. I think I understand the small glitches in my process, and I'll definitely do better next time.

What am I making next? Not sure. Maybe a witbier, or maybe I'll try my hand at another IPA.

(Update 2010-02-22: Measured final gravity at 1.010. Should be an ABV of around 4.2%)

Homebrew, Vienna Lager

Yep, I decided to try a lager on for size. I don't have a refrigeration system large enough for temperature control, so instead I'm just using the fall weather and my garage for fermentation purposes. I'll probably leave the bottles to clear for at least a month once the weather turns cold enough. It's an exciting change from all these ales...

Anyway, here's my recipe.

2 lbs Breiss Munich Malt
1 lb Breiss Vienna Malt
6 lbs Breiss Pilsen Dry Malt Extract
.5 oz Tradition (60 min)
.5 oz Tettnang (60 min)
.5 oz Tradition (30 min)
.5 oz Tettnang (30 min)
1 oz Strisselspalt (15 min)

1 vial White Labs San Fransisco Lager Yeast (WLP810) in yeast starter made three days ago

I'm going to keep an eye on this one and probably let it stay in the primary for about two weeks, then move to a secondary for two weeks, then a month or two in bottles for conditioning. I'll post with more details as they come.

My Homebrew: India Amber Ale

I'm trying for a nice hoppy amber this time. Here's the recipe.

1lb Gambrinus Honey Malt
1lb Vienna Malt
6.6lb Sparkling Amber Malt Extract
1 oz Chinook (60 min)
1 oz Centennial (30 min)
0.5 oz Centennial (5 min)
0.5 oz Centennial (0 min)
1 vial White Labs California V Yeast

I added the honey malt so that it will hopefully have a bit of residual sweetness. I'm calling it a "India Amber Ale" because I'm wanting it to have a nice hop bite.

ESB Recipe

6.6 lb Amber Malt Extract
1 lb Vienna Malt
1 lb 60L Crystal Malt
1 oz Kent Goldings (60 min)
.5 oz Liberty (30 min)
.5 oz Liberty (15 min)
1 vial White Labs Burton Ale Yeast

I boiled the crystal malt and the Vienna malt for 30 minutes at 170F, then added the extract and the Kent Goldings. After thirty minutes, I added half of my Liberty hops, then after another fifteen, I added the other half. I let the wort cool, then added the yeast starter I made a couple of days ago with Pilsner DME in a half-gallon growler.

I'm aiming for something rich and malty, not too alcoholic and overall pretty relaxing.

Sumatra Stout Recipe

I forgot to post this the other day. Recipe for the Coffee Stout I brewed on Wednesday.

1/2 lb Black Patent Malt
1/2 lb Chocolate Malt
1 lb Munton's Roasted Non-malted Black Barley
3/4 lb Water Street Sumatra Coffee
6.6 lbs Dark LME
1 oz Northern Brewer (45 min)
0.5 oz Liberty (5 min)
0.5 oz Liberty (0 min)

The wort came out dark as fuck on this one, and the aroma was heavenly. I made a Coffee Oatmeal Stout before, which turned out fine, but I didn't add enough coffee and the beer turned out a lot lighter than I wanted. I'm hoping this is going to be a nice roasty jet-black stout with a malty backbone.

I guess we'll see in a couple of weeks. The plan is to move it to glass this Wednesday, leave it in the secondary for another week, then bottle around July 1.

IPA Update

Just a quick status update on the homebrewed IPA.

The Pacific Ale Yeast didn't want to activate after two days, so I sterilized a plastic stirring spoon and stirred up the batch, aerating the yeast. There was a nice thick layer of yeast on top of the beer already (unlike my last yeast problem with the hefeweizen, when upon opening the batch I found it exactly as I left it), so stirring the yeasty muck back into the wort was a simple process. I re-sterilized the lid and the airlock, and sealed the batch back up, leaving it on my warm enclosed porch so it would stay a bit warmer than my house, which stays around 65F most of the time.

Sure enough, within a few hours the fermentation process was chugging along nicely. It stopped after another day, though, so I repeated the process a day later. Then I moved it inside to my basement where I could keep a closer eye on it and let the attenuation process go forward.

Yesterday I moved the batch into the secondary fermenter (glass carboy). I sterlized my racking cane and plastic tubing, as well as a plastic funnel. I racked several gallons of hot water mixed with no-rinse cleanser into the carboy, and let the whole thing sit for about an hour. Then I moved the primary fermenter outside, setting it on a small outdoor table. The carboy went out next, and I carefully poured the sterlizing solution out onto the dirt underneath the wooden deck. I put the plastic funnel into the top of the carboy (in case of spillage) and ran the tubing into the hole. Then I carefully opened the primary and enjoyed the sweet grassy aroma of Centennials.

The racking tube went into the beer and was attached to the plastic tubing. I racked the contents of the plastic fermenter into the glass, leaving the trub behind. Then I removed the plastic tubing and poured two ounces of Centennial hops into the funnel, shaking slightly to get them all down the tube. A sterilized airlock and bung was placed onto the carboy, and then it was moved inside and placed in a black garbage bag in a dark area of my basement.

Then I cleaned the tubing, plastic fermenter, lid, racking cane, and funnel, and stored them in my garage. I'll have to sterilize the whole mess before I can use it again, anyway, so I figure leaving it in the garage isn't the worst idea I've ever had, but I like to get the sticky beer off immediately so it doesn't set and become impossible to clean.

I'm planning on leaving the IPA in the secondary for about two weeks to give time for the dry-hopping to be effective and for the leftover yeast to have time to clear the beer. The color was a bit darker than I was expecting, probably because of the large volume of Vienna malt, but it's probably within reasonable bounds of expectation given an IPA. It smelled delicious even now, so hopefully it'll turn out well.

Homebrewing

So it's no secret that this blog has been pretty damned silent as of late. Which is more-or-less de rigeur of my blogging life -- periods of furious updating on a variety of subjects punctuated by long droopy silences. When no one reads you, it's easy to just let yourself forget about updating for awhile.

Also, I've been spending my energies in other pursuits. I've been playing Dead Rising obsessively, and may actually end up writing a three-years-too-late walkthrough just for my own amusement. And since the end of March I've been homebrewing, and just a few minutes ago finished my fourth batch, an American IPA.

Since the blog has been so silent, I figured I'd go ahead and put up the recipe I've used today for reference, and will eventually write up the resulting product and link it back here.

Grains:

1 lb 10L Crystal Malt
1 lb Breiss Vienna Malt

6.6 lbs light LME

Hops:

1 oz Chinook 60 mins
1 oz Centennial 30 min
.5 oz Centennial 5 min
.5 oz Centennial 0 min

Original Gravity: 1.043 at 85F.

I boiled the grains in a bag for thirty minutes at 160-170, then boiled the LME for an hour. Hops were added according to the listed schedule. I'm planning on moving the beer into a glass carboy in a week, and dry-hopping it with another ounce of Centennial for aroma. We'll see how that works out as the brewing process goes on.