Everything Homebrew!

A few pics from homebrew day:


My Cyser Label. I took a case of it with me, having chilled it overnight, and put on ice once there in my buddie's backyard. It got good reviews, and truly lives up to it's name.


Brew setup for my buddy. He uses an huge electric boiler thing.


Brew area. Outside, in the back yard, nice weather....


Another brewer's Kolsch heating up. Ready for the hour long boil.

Over all, we brewed a Honey Brown Ale (all-grain), a Kolsch (extract, partial boil kit), my Jalpeno IPA recipe (all-grain), and this morning I brewed my Pyment.

The Honey Brown worked out to 1.040.
The Kolsch a nice 1.064.
My Jalapeno IPA out to a 1.042.
The Pyment an incredulous 1.082.

My Jalapeno IPA was simple, 10 lbs of 2-row, and 2 lbs of Caramel 20L. (The 20 Lovibond was just for coloring, by the way, and an afterthought of flavor.) I did a single strike infusion at 180f, calculating in temperature loss in my non-insulated mash-tun. It doubles as my lauter-tun. It stayed in the high range for about fifteen minutes, kept 155f for well over half an hour, and when I went to sparge (rinse), it was 145f.

I did three runnings as our apprentice was watching (the guy doing the Kolsch kit), then sparged at the rate of 1 qt per minute. Keep that ratio and you'll never have a stuck grain bed.

I had well over 5 gallons of wort, having struck my grains with 3.75 gals at 180f, and sparged with 4.15 gals at 175f.

Brought to boil, added 1 oz of Cascade at AA 9.0%, and one ounce Centennial at AA 6.6%. (AA stands for Alpha Acid, basically, the bittering unit in hops. The higher the percentage, the more bitterness.) The IBUs are about 46.8. The IPA style calls for 40-60. Nailed that. Chilled to 75f, then pitched my yeast culture. It was now that I added my Jalapenos, cut into slices, and stirred in. Vigourous fermentation after 40 minutes. I'll do another gravity reading in two days, just to see how it's doing. Estimated ABV is 6.5%.

NOTE: For those of you interested in all grain brewing, I am using "all grain" language. Mashing, and sparging are two more steps you add before the boil. Not hard at all, and less expensive than "Kits". I paid 13.95USD for ten pounds of 2-row Briess, (uncrushed, had to cruch it myself), and 1.95USD for each pound of the 20L Caramel. I had my yeast already, so I just needed hops to finish my recipe. Total bill was 21.04USD. Compare that to a "Kit" price, and then add in you are learning about the whole grain/conversion/wort procedure, and you can't help but want to learn more about the craft of homebrewing.

The Pyment was thus:

3 gals water, heated to 160f. Added 12 pounds home farmed honey. Steeped at 160f for 30 mins to pastuerize, then added 2 tbsp Lemon concentrate, 2 tbsp Lime concentrate, and 12 oz frozen Grape concentrate. Added 2 gals of water to bring up to volume, stirred, slow cooled to 80f, then pitched yeast. Active fermentation after 1 hour. Calculated to 8.3% ABV.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


I'd like to see your recipes. I'm always learning.

Oh, and would you mind perusing my Pyment recipe? It's hard finding mead makers, so any advice is appreciated.

However, one greedy person at Home Brew Day drank about 8 of my Zom-bee Cysers and fell off his bike twice while trying to leave the driveway. Truly wicked, that Cyser was, about 7.2% ABV.

reply to post by Druid42


The recipe looks good, but there were a few things I would avoid. This is mostly opinion so take it as you will..

You shouldn't use a spigoted bucket to ferment. Even scratching the inside of your bucket is a safe haven for unwanted bacteria. Drilling a hole that is obviously not surfaced like a food grade bucket is a big no no in brewing. You are using a bottling bucket to ferment. This is no bueno! My recommendation is to ferment in glass or ss, but I realize this can be expensive. When I first started brewing I found an old wine making hippy on craigslist that sold be 10 5 gallon carboys (old made in teh USA ones, that are awesome and haven't been made in the US for many moons) for $120. So I got lucky, you could too!

I wouldn't use bread yeast, yeast is huge in the flavor profile and you're going to have a dry, sour mead. What was your brew date again? The apple juice may help a bit but I would have gone with a dry wine yeast or better yet (for my liking) a good dry ale yeast like Nottingham. I have started using Nottingham quite a bit in cider (which I make a lot of) and mead (which I have made a few times only) but Nottingham tends to leave a sweeter, thicker brew behind. Another good choice if you prefer a drier mead is to use Red Star Cotes Deblanc (same brand as the bread yeast from your pictures, but only available at your LHBS or online). Red Star CDb produces a very dry end result and is has high attenuation. Great for that country cider than could fuel a tractor.

You mention having this ready for National Homebrew Day, but I think that's really early for a mead. The best ciders and meads ripen with age, it's hard to wait but after waiting just once you'll never crack open more than the occasional sample until it's ready. There is a big difference between a 'green' brew and one that has had a chance to mature. Your mileage may vary, but if I were you I would take good taste notes when you open the first bottle according to your time frame, and make sure to save 2 bottles, have one at 6 months and the other after a full year. I am just barely cracking open the first soldiers from my (bottled) August 16th cider, and it still needs to sweeten out a bit. I realize it's impossibly hard to do, at least until you have a pipeline going, but it's a must for the best product.


I have heard people say to use bread yeast for meads..Ultimately it's a question of flavor but you should try wine or ale yeast next time and compare. I don't think you'll get as high attenuation with a bread yeast considering it's not a strain that is made for highly alcoholic environments - but I could be wrong.

I hope you keep us updated on your results, I'm curious to know how the bread yeast goes. I've friended you so be sure to write a thread about it!

Here's my Irish Red recipe - everyone loves this one. Pretty high ABV yet totally chuggable.

I aimed high on the color spectrum but still within guideline. This truly is a RED Ale. =]

If you ever try it let me know what you think.


Oh and my recipes are all for 3.5 gallons into primary. I have been trying to perfect a few styles and smaller batches make rapid fire brew easier. This way I can primary in 5 gallon glass carboys and secondary in 3 gallon glass carboys, I lose approximately .5 gallon to trub (less really, but this makes it easier to wash and store yeast). If you ever need me to scale it up lemme know. =]



Recipe: The Real Tonya's Irish Red
Style: Irish Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 4.66 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.91 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 3.03 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 16.5 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.2 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Measured FG 1.010

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 78.6 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.1 %
8.0 oz Caraaroma (130.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.1 %
1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 Yeast 8 -
0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 18.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 4.6 IBUs
4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.6 %


Mash Schedule: Cooler MT, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 7 lbs
----------------------------

Saccharification Add 20.69 qt of water at 157.5 F
Mash At 152.1 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort

Notes:

Carb to 2.3 volumes - hits it's stride after about 10 weeks in keg/bottles.

Williamette > Fuggles. Williamette adds a fruity aroma that complements the caramel well.

Fermentation is heavy within 2 hours and is done within 2 days using a 1000mL starter. Start fermentation @ 61f and increase to 65f after heavy fermentation is done.

Umm, guys? I had an interesting weekend while going into 2nd stage ferm. I took another gravity reading while moving the brew from the bucket to the carboy and got a reading of 1.21. Now remember back when I took my OG reading, it was 1.51....1.51-1.21*131.25 roughly equals 40.7...40.7ABV!!!??? How the heck did that happen?



And Jameela, dont worry, I'll PM you a good dessert recipe

reply to post by DerbyCityLights


I think you're missing a decimal place. It's more likely 1.051 and 1.021 which gives you an ABV of 3.9. Look carefully at your hydrometer. It starts at 1.000, not 1.00. If you look towards the bottom you will see 1.100. Each increment of ten is in hundredths not tenths.

reply to post by DerbyCityLights


What Xcalibur said - but also that brew isn't done attenuating. You shouldn't have moved it to secondary. It might finish out there, but maybe not. If you ever get a stuck fermentation you can just swirl your fermenter around a bit to kick start the suspended yeast.

You can avoid stuck fermentation by insuring proper pitching rates and aerating well. =]

I wouldn't trust a beer that hasn't attenuated properly..

What you are looking at is 3.94% ABV.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


Thanks for your comments, you are very knowledgeable in brewing ways. I think all of us are always learning. I appreciate you stopping by to offer advice.

The recipe looks good, but there were a few things I would avoid. This is mostly opinion so take it as you will.. You shouldn't use a spigoted bucket to ferment. Even scratching the inside of your bucket is a safe haven for unwanted bacteria. Drilling a hole that is obviously not surfaced like a food grade bucket is a big no no in brewing. You are using a bottling bucket to ferment. This is no bueno!

I know, I break homebrewing rules, but it is a cost-effective endeavor vs having the best of the best equipment. There are the purists out there that would gasp in horror at my techniques. In my defense, I know the wort is 212f when I put it in my bucket, so any surviving bacteria AFTER sanitizing it really have no chance. Never had a bad batch. (Knock on wood.) When I climb out of hobby phase, I'm sure I'll get better equipment. Down the road I'd love to have one of those 3 tier systems. I'm learning the basics, at the bare minimum cost.

I wouldn't use bread yeast, yeast is huge in the flavor profile and you're going to have a dry, sour mead. What was your brew date again?

Brew date was 04/17, and every two days I took gravity readings, such because this was my first attempt at mead. I didn't re-rack, but ran it for two weeks straight, a steady drop in SG until two weeks were up. It was still dropping at that time (every check a lower reading), so I went to bottle and primed with 1/4 tsp priming sugar for each bottle. Yes, I was rushing it for HBD, and even though I didn't do it justice, it was semi-sweet, a bit of pucker from the extra ascorbic acid (lemon and lime), with a smooth follow, finishing with a hint of apple. Out of a case of it, I had 2 left. It was at 7.2% at bottling. I am saving one for months, just to see. Will it turn into Ambrosia? Time will tell.

I am just barely cracking open the first soldiers from my (bottled) August 16th cider, and it still needs to sweeten out a bit. I realize it's impossibly hard to do, at least until you have a pipeline going, but it's a must for the best product.

Patience IS a virtue. As another homebrewer, I can relate. I will treat my Pyment a bit better, the Cyser was a rush job.

I hope you keep us updated on your results, I'm curious to know how the bread yeast goes. I've friended you so be sure to write a thread about it!

I'll be sure to update. I have five gallons each of Pyment and Jalapeno IPA fermenting. The bread yeast worked out fine in the Cyser, but we both know that was such a green batch. That was just designed to get people drunk, and to see if they would drink it. Now that I know I have 100% thumbs up on a green batch, I'll be more careful with aging the Pyment.

Once again, thanks for your comments. Truly insightful.

reply to post by TinkerHaus

Recipe: The Real Tonya's Irish Red Style: Irish Red Ale TYPE: All Grain Taste: (30.0) Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 4.66 gal Post Boil Volume: 3.91 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal Bottling Volume: 3.03 gal Estimated OG: 1.052 SG Estimated Color: 16.5 SRM Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 75.2 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Measured FG 1.010 Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 78.6 % 4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.1 % 8.0 oz Caraaroma (130.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.1 % 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 Yeast 8 - 0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 18.0 IBUs 0.25 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 4.6 IBUs 4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.6 %

So this works out to 5.5% ABV? It's a very exquisite recipe. Did you clone it from something yourself? It sounds tasty!

Question: Do you mash ALL the grains? Or is that 4oz Special Roast a steep during the boil?

I like the wisdom behind making 3 gallon batches. My Cyser was 3 gallons, and yielded 32 12oz bottles.

With 3 gallon batches, you have a smaller grain bill, less of a loss if you err, experimentation would be less scary, and you'd get to brew more often.

reply to post by DerbyCityLights


That was a simple decimal point mistake. I read back to your brew post, and you did list it at 1.5X. The reading was actually 1.05x. The hydrometer doesn't scale to 1.5xx, so I took it for a simple typo when I read your post. Always add that 1.0xx to your readings, as water should be 1.000. The last two numbers indicate how many sugars you have in your wort. The other guys have the right reading for you.

@Tinker: Can you explain the whole attenuation thing, please? Derby was racking after a week, which is normal, and am I confused by you bringing up beer clarity in a primary to secondary rack. Isn't the whole purpose of racking to help clarify?

reply to post by Xcalibur254

It's more likely 1.051 and 1.021 which gives you an ABV of 3.9.

Which is not a bad number going into secondary. Another week should drop it into 1.01x, say 1.016, which should put him in the 4.5% ABV range. Given his style, he's not too far out.

@Derby: Give us an update.

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by TinkerHaus

 

Recipe: The Real Tonya's Irish Red Style: Irish Red Ale TYPE: All Grain Taste: (30.0) Recipe Specifications -------------------------- Boil Size: 4.66 gal Post Boil Volume: 3.91 gal Batch Size (fermenter): 3.25 gal Bottling Volume: 3.03 gal Estimated OG: 1.052 SG Estimated Color: 16.5 SRM Estimated IBU: 22.6 IBUs Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 % Est Mash Efficiency: 75.2 % Boil Time: 60 Minutes Measured FG 1.010 Ingredients: ------------ Amt Name Type # %/IBU 5 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 78.6 % 4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.6 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.1 % 8.0 oz Caraaroma (130.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.1 % 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 Yeast 8 - 0.50 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 18.0 IBUs 0.25 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 7 4.6 IBUs 4.0 oz Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.6 %

So this works out to 5.5% ABV? It's a very exquisite recipe. Did you clone it from something yourself? It sounds tasty!

Question: Do you mash ALL the grains? Or is that 4oz Special Roast a steep during the boil?

I like the wisdom behind making 3 gallon batches. My Cyser was 3 gallons, and yielded 32 12oz bottles.

With 3 gallon batches, you have a smaller grain bill, less of a loss if you err, experimentation would be less scary, and you'd get to brew more often.

Mash all grains, that special roast was a latecomer to the recipe and I didn't restructure the ingredients is all. Mash the full grain bill. The special roast did alot to counter the caramelyness from all the cara.

This is no clone, just evolved over multiple brews trying to get the perfect Irish Red. I used the BJCP description and chose ingredients to match. Alot of people use roast barley or other ultra darks, but I really wanted that red color so I went with cara-aroma. It took awhile adjusting quantities to get the perfect brew.

This recipe is only showing estimated values, but it's typically between 5%-5.5% ABV. The volumes are a little off because they haven't been adjusted to reflect my actual efficiency. Efficiency will change from brewery to brewery, you need to nail down your efficiency and adjust your grain bill accordingly. Even the mash water amounts should be adjusted - you might boil off more or less wort than me. So every recipe needs some special attention when going from one brewery to another.

Prost. =]

reply to post by TinkerHaus


Yeah, to truly match your recipe I'd have to match your mash schedule. Temperature variances are a bear to calculate. I can calculate strike temps with my primitive equipment, factoring in 10% heat loss each way, and still get a good mash, but I know I'm at about 70% efficiency at best. Do you think I could just modify your base with extra grain to compensate for the efficiency loss? Since this is your baby, how much can you tinker with it?

Just curious. I'd like to know.

ETA: Also, your boiling BTU is another factor. What do you boil at? At HBD, I was using a burner rated at 55k BTU (a typical turkey fryer). They have 185k BTU jet burners at Home Depot for 34USD. So tempted to pick one up at that price.

I suspect you are running at least 100000 BTUs to explain your volume loss during boil. You have to be boiling Super Hot. What's the specs on your boiler?

reply to post by Druid42


I use a 185,000 BTU Bayou boiler, and yes it's a little overkill, but I also do double and triple batches from time to time, so for a 10 gallon batch it works well. It's probably the same one you're seeing at Home Depot. It's never turned all the way up but I lose about a gallon per hour. I will also adjust boil time to hit the appropriate volume. This can be a PITA with lower gravity brews, but is great for huge grain bills, where you might have to use a lot of sparge water to get decent efficiency and have to boil some off. It's a non issue though, if you know your equipment you can adjust for boil off, etc.

The way to adjust for lower efficiency is more grain, just as you said. I would add grain in an attempt to keep that particular ingredient at the same scale in the recipe. So if it's 7% in my recipe and you up the grain bill, try to keep that ingredient at 7%, and so on. If you miss your OG you can also boil longer, assuming your hop schedule won't get messed up because of it. But if you're boiling hops for 60 minutes they're pretty much done at that point, it's not a big deal to keep boiling to get to volume. That being said you'll NEVER get the same exact result, but you can get pretty consistent over time.

After awhile you start to know your equipment, so doing calculations to get the appropriate strike temp becomes less math and more feel. I use a converted cooler as a mash tun, it was cheap (like $10 because I had the cooler and just bought the plumbing) Keep some boiled water and some nearly frozen water on hand, it makes adjusting mash temps easy. Do you mash in a bag in the boiler? Amazon.com is a great place for stainless steel plumbing and the appropriate seals to make a great CMT if you don't have one already.

Also consider surface area - it has a lot to do with boil off.

pH is important, learning to build water is semi-complicated. I am lucky to have an artisian well nearby that is VERY hard water, so it's great to dilute with distilled water to get the appropriate profile. I used to build from scratch, but this gives a much more balanced water profile.

I doubt I will get around to doing it myself but I know that the two best beers I have ever had were homebrews.So I can never have one of those again, lol.

sigh...

reply to post by TinkerHaus

I use a 185,000 BTU Bayou boiler, and yes it's a little overkill, but I also do double and triple batches from time to time, so for a 10 gallon batch it works well. It's probably the same one you're seeing at Home Depot. It's never turned all the way up but I lose about a gallon per hour.

Yes, tis the same model. I'm quite happy to know another homebrewer has one, and I have to laugh, because "never turned up all the way" is still a 55k BTU minimum. I still suspect you run at 100K because of your boil loss.

At 34usd, I will get one. You have mastered the boil trade-offs, and know your equipment. Everyone does.
More heat is better when brewing. Aye?

reply to post by nixie_nox


If you star all our posts we'll each ship you one bottle of the homebrews we are talking about. If you are an impartial judge, we can have a competition.

reply to post by Druid42


Homebrew is ALWAYS better!

And it's totally legal to mail liquor within the USA..

Originally posted by Druid42
reply to post by DerbyCityLights

 

That was a simple decimal point mistake. I read back to your brew post, and you did list it at 1.5X. The reading was actually 1.05x. The hydrometer doesn't scale to 1.5xx, so I took it for a simple typo when I read your post. Always add that 1.0xx to your readings, as water should be 1.000. The last two numbers indicate how many sugars you have in your wort. The other guys have the right reading for you.

@Tinker: Can you explain the whole attenuation thing, please? Derby was racking after a week, which is normal, and am I confused by you bringing up beer clarity in a primary to secondary rack. Isn't the whole purpose of racking to help clarify?

Attenuation is fermentation. A highly attenuating yeast is a yeast that can produce a high ABV. There are no solid timeframes, there are some general rules (the 1-2-3 rule for fermenting/aging, for example) but this is a basic guideline and not written in stone. You should really be VERY close to your Estimated FG before moving to secondary. You tend to aerate your brew a little when racking, so that will jumpstart any yeast that aren't finished, but it's more desirable to complete fermentation in primary. This allows your secondary to do what it's intended to do, which is purely clarification.

I've had brews in primary for 5 days, and some for over a month. It depends on how successful fermentation is, how high gravity the brew is, etc.

So I was just saying ignore the timeframes that a recipe may have told you. Everything in brewing needs to be adjusted to fit the circumstance. If you are still far above your estimated FG, you probably have "stuck" fermentation. This can be remedied by swirling your fermenter back and forth pretty gently (don't over do it!)

It probably will finish off in secondary - but it's safer to allow 90% or more of your fermentation to take place in the primary fermenter. It will also help to produce a clearer brew if little or no fermentation takes place in secondary.

This is a matter of opinion, but it's an opinion that is widely shared among brewers.

reply to post by TXRabbit


Hops requires a temporate growing enviroment. Idealy the hop yard must be in direct sunlight and requires a minimum of 120 frost-free days in the summer growing season. It must have easy access to water, and plenty of room for vertical growth. Space along fences, garages, or property lines hold potential as hop yards. The prefered soil is loamy and well drained. I use manure and garden compost.

.