EMBc

Hops Bag

2012-02-05T12:56:00.001-06:00

Here is a tool I made to contain my hops while brewing. It is a paint strainer bag that is attached to a 4” duct connector with a hose clamp.

In my smaller kettle I had used a stainless steel screen wrapped around the dip-tube to filter the hops while racking (transferring) the beer to the fermenter.

The dip-tube in this new kettle is different then the old one. I wasn’t sure how make a screen like I had before, so I found the paint strainer idea on www.homebrewtalk.com.

I could have used muslin bags, but then I would need new ones every time I brew, and the hops are too tightly compacted in the bags. With the paint strainer bag, the hops float freely in the wort (unfermented beer) allowing all the flavors and alpha acids to interact with the wort.

My only problem with this solution is that the connector is not stainless steel and the hose clamp is not stainless steel. Also, it kind of dangles loosely on the kettle. I would like it to be fixed and secure. I will use this one for now, but I’m sure I will be making a better one.

8 Gallon Kettle Measure

2012-02-02T21:26:00.002-06:00

Knowing how much water is in the kettle is important during a brew day.

I always measure the water for the mash before I heat it in the kettle, but missing a correct mash temperature can cause problems. If, after adding water and grain to the Mash tun, my mash temperature is too cold, I can add some more hot water to hit the correct temp. In order to do that I have to take a little more hot water from the kettle. When I do that I lose track of how much water I still have left in the kettle for the sparging (rinsing) of the grain.

A good measuring stick is handy to quickly find out how much water is left and how much water I need to add to get the correct amount of sparge water. I used a CPVC pipe, and made markings on it with a sharpie. I had to add a half gallon of water at a time to the kettle in order to get the correct markings on the pipe.

Although the weather here has been pretty good to brew in, I still have not brewed since before Thanksgiving. The garage is a mess from Pinewood Derby making, and I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the hops in the brew kettle. In my smaller kettle I had made a hop screen that wrapped around the dip tube in the kettle, but I don't think that was going to work very well in the new kettle. Stayed tuned for pictures of the hops hanger I made.

I bought ingredients to brew clones of Sierra Nevada Stout and Sierra Nevada Porter. Soon brewing will begin.

Brewing Plans 2012 "Edited"

2012-01-20T21:29:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!

It's still too cold for me to brew. It isn't too cold for brewing, but it is too cold for ME to brew.

Anyway, this year I plan to brew a bunch of clone brews of some of my favorite beers. I have struggled (my opinion) with the beer I have been trying to brew. Most of the beers have been recipes that I have put together myself. I think I will try recipes that have been put together by someone else and have been tried and tested by many other home brewers.

There are two elements of brewing that I really need to learn about; water chemistry and fermentation temperature control.

I'm a bone head when it comes to water chemistry. I have read about it. There are a group of additives that can be used to create a good water profile for brewing different styles of beer. There are programs available, but I get too confused! Anyway, I am either going to figure it out, or I'm going to find someone who can help me learn it.

I'm not a bone head when it comes to building things. I have read a lot about different kinds of temperature controlled fermentation chambers. According to many brewers I have spoken with, controlling the temperature during the first four to six days of fermentation is critical to brewing the intend beer. If the temperature fluctuates, different compounds and flavors are produced, which can be considered flaws in the beer. Mostly I want to brew the beer that I intended to brew when I started. A chamber that holds the beer at a single temperature shouldn't be too difficult to build.

Here is a short list of clones that I want to brew this year:
*I edited this list to remove the Belgians. I would like to stick to American pale ales, IPAs, brown ale, porters, and stouts. If you have a beer that fits in that category that you would like me to clone, let me know. I will try.

Sierra Nevada Stout
Sierra Nevada Porter
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA
Southern Tier Creme Brulee
Avery Maharaja IIPA
Founders Breakfast Stout (Possibly the greatest beer ever)
Stone 15th Anniversary Black IPA
Lagunitas Hopstoopid IPA
Smuttynose Big A IPA
New Holland Dragon's Milk
Firestone Union Jack
Surly Furious IPA
Surly Darkness

Sierra Nevada Stout will be brewed hopefully in the next two weeks. Damn the cold!

Chrissy Procured a NEW 8-gallon Brew Kettle!

2012-01-04T22:58:00.003-06:00

Well, this year is starting off right! Chrissy came through in her role as brewery administrator.
This baby isstainless steel, which is easy to clean with Oxyclean, and it has a tri-clad bottom, which means a layer ofaluminum is sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. Aluminum conductsheat better, and the thickness means that the sugars will not caramelize, sothe color of the finished beer will be lighter and truer to the recipe.

We ordered this kettle from Kurt at Brew Steel, where it wascustom welded to my specifications. It includes a ball valve and a thermometer.Since I will still mostly brew 3-gallon batches, I wanted to make sure thethermometer was low enough to be covered by water. Otherwise it would beuseless. As you can see, it looks beautiful!

It also has a nice dip tube that Kurt threw in for free. Idon’t think I will use my hop-screen anymore. I am going to try using hop-bags.I hope to get close to the same utilization form the hops that way.

One nice feature of an 8-gallon kettle is that I can nowfully boil 5-6 gallons of beer. That means 5-gallons of Jack Porter and ShagweedBrown Ale at one time.

Botting will take longer, but I will have more beer to share.

Now, I guess I have to brew something…

2011 Brewing Review

2011-12-03T16:47:00.001-06:00

Here is a picture of Spiceweed, my new spiced brown ale (left), and some C-5 Pale Ale (right).

You may not know that this has been a productive year of brewing. As of today, I have brewed 30 batches of beer. Last year I brewed 31 batches, so I am thinking I had better brew at least two more times, just so it doesn't look like an Ean McNulty recession. But it's so cold outside!

Here are some highlights of the brewing year:

1. Pale Ale

Pale ales have been getting better and better. It is all I can ask. I think I have been drinking so many "Big" beers (IPAs, IIPAs, Double IPAs, Imerial Stouts, etc., that pale ales just seem to be weak to my tastes. Well, I am going to keep trying for a perfect pale ale. I brewed six pale ales this year. C-5 V MOS Pale Ale (#5, Maris Otter Malt/Simcoe Hops) looks like it is going to be a contender for best pale ale yet.

2.Brown Ale

Shagweed Brown Ale has become a featured brew. Smooth, malty, nice! I upped the ABV in the recipe and added some Cinnamon and ginger to make Spiceweed Brown Ale, but I don't think I added enough, becasue it pretty much tastes like Shagweed.

3. Porter

Jack Porter has been brewed a few time this year with some slight variations. For one batch, Jack Harvest, I used Ean McNulty Centennial hops that were grown in Dan's garden. That was an awesome batch. I upped the ABV to make New Jack Porter in another batch, but I didn't add more dark malts,and it came out a lighter color. It almost has a brown ale look to it. Then I added cinnamon and nutmeg to make Jack Frost Porter, a spiced porter for the holidays. Still not sure about that one. I'm hoping a little aging with mellow it out.

4. Russian Imperial Stout

Jeff and Ian both want big black beers, so I brewed two Russian Imperial Stouts - one, Russian Imperial Nephew, is 9% and the other, Russian Brother, is 11% ABV. Well, that alcohol shows. There has to be a trick to boost everything to make a good big beer. I upped the alcohol, and I upped the bitterness to counter the extra malt, but I missed on bring the flavor up too. These beers taste like a shot of vodka with a little coffee. Back to the drawing board.

5. Spotted Cow

I have brewed this about six times now, and I am still not a fan. Mike likes it, but it is not yet good enough. I tried three different yeasts and swapped out Vienna malt for Munich malt. I think Creamy Cow #3 was the best version. But the jury is still out on that, because Jack asked me to make another version with more color and more flavor. That is last beer I brewed. It is called Jacked Cow, and it will be bottled tomorrow.

6. Saison

I brewed two Saisons this year. It is a Belgian/French farmhouse ale and one of my favorite styles. Saison Dupont is the definitive commercial beer. Saison Duperry, the first batch, was brewed with French Saison yeast, and it was superior to Saison Duperry 2, the second batch, which was brewed with Belgian Saison Yeast. I have the ingredients to brew Saison Dukitchen Sink if I can brave the cold. I'm going to be brewing my first Saison recipe again next year.

7. IPA

Finally, Janahead IPA has been brewed with as many variations as C-5 Pale Ale. I have brewed five IPAs this year. The third one, Janahead CCC (Columbus, Centennial, Cascade hops) was really good after the first month, but then the hop aroma faded. That tends to happen, so drink your IPAs young. Tim and four of his friends came over to learn how to brew, so I brewed Crazyhead IPA with a variety of mixed ingredients. That has not yet fully carbed, so we are waiting. Tim requested an IPA for when he had a hard day and he just wanted a Mother F*#&@n IPA, so we brewed Tim's MFIPA at 9.8% ABV and a ton of hops. I just bottled that today, and if it carbs up nicely, it could be my most successful beer to date. It was really tasty.

8. Green

I also celebrated my 50th brew with a Duvel Green clone. (Read the blog post about it.) Duvel has changed the name to Duval Single, because people thought it was some sort of environmentally friendly beer instead of a young (green) beer. This is not a bottled beer. It only comes on draught, and that is the way I had it. So, even though I didn't have any of the real thing to compare, I think I got pretty close from memory.

Well, here's hoping I can start this blog up again. Many people have told me they read it, and I appreciate it. I though no one was reading it, because I only even got a couple of comments. I will just believe you are reading it and have faith.

2011 Hops Harvest

2011-07-20T21:44:00.007-05:00

It looks like just when you turn your back the hops start to sprout.

We managed to harvest a one gallon bag of Centennial hops. I dried them on a screen in the garage with a box fan blowing on it. It took about two days. I am going to brew a batch of Gardener's Ale with the first hops from the garden.
Dan thinks we might be harvesting hops every week or two well into September. Get used to tasting Centennial hops!

UPDATE:
Bottled:
Saison DuChrissy, Green, C-5 Pale Ale, Janahead IPA, Gardener Ale

To Be Bottled:
Russian Imperial Nephew, Janahead Dry-hopped IPA, Floater Ale, Golden Monkey Tripel Clone

Saison! And a Hops Update

2011-06-01T15:21:00.004-05:00

“I swear, Jonnyboy, they poked up through the snow back at the end of March.” -Dan

Look at that! The hops are past the roof and soaring to the chimney top!
Those are the Centennial hops that Dan planted last year. I hope to be brewing with them before August.
We also put a Magnum Hops rhizome in the ground this year. They are a German variety. They should be ready late this year or next year.

Saison Duperry 2
After brewing the first piloncillo saison, I couldn’t wait, so I brew another. This second time I used regular table sugar instead of the Mexican piloncillo. I’m glad I did. I popped open a bottle from the first batch after it had been in the bottle only 9 days. I couldn’t wait. Wow! It is fantastic. Really, really good. The problem is that I don’t know what the piloncillo is doing to the flavor, so it is a good thing that I brewed the second batch. I will know when that is done.

Bottling
“How long does the beer need in the bottle before you can drink it?”
It depends. A light ale, like a cream ale, a blonde ale, or even a lower ABV pale ale, generally needs 10-14 days to carbonate. A stronger beer, like an IPA, a stout, a porter, a Russian Stout, or anything with higher ABV or strong flavors, generally needs more time. I use a home brewers rule of thumb: let sit at 70F for 21 days.
Now, the Russian Imperial Stouts are going to get about four months in the bottle. The yeast struggle to carbonate in that high alcohol environment. Also, the flavors need time to mellow. It is actually like a wine in that way.
Secret: I always try a bottle after 14 days. Rules are meant to be broken. And the saison? Well, I was livin’ on the edge there.

Saison Duperry 2
4.5 lb Belgian Pilsner Malt 60%
2 lb Vienna Malt 26.6%
.5 lb Belgian Wheat Malt 6.6%
.5 lb table Sugar 6.6%
.5 oz magnum Hops (14%) 60 min
.25 oz Williamette Hops (4.7%) 10 min
.25 oz Williamette Hops (4.7%) 0 min
.25 tsp Irish Moss 15 min
French Saison yeast (Wyeast #3711)

C-5 Pale Ale

2011-05-24T17:17:00.001-05:00

I brewed my first batch of C-5 Pale Ale. This series of beer will focus on pinpointing my Ean McNulty Pale Ale recipe.
I am going to be working on adjusting the base/crystal malt/mash temp triad to come up with my pale ale. These will be very minor adjustments that will affect color, mouth-feel, sweetness/dryness, and flavor.
I am also continuing to work with different hops combinations and schedules. For C-5 1.0 I am bittering the beer with German Magnum hops. The hops flavor and aroma will come from Centennial hops. I hope to find Centennials to be the best, because that is what the gardener is growing. We’re going to have a lot of them.
For yeast I’m sticking with Safale US-05. It is clean, attenuates well, and has a very American flavor.
C-5 should turn out to be a nice pale ale.

C-5 Pale Ale

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 92.31 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 7.69 %
0.25 oz Magnum [14.10 %] (60 min) Hops 20.6 IBU
0.50 oz Centennial [10.30 %] (15 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [10.30 %] (10 min) Hops 5.4 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [10.30 %] (5 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Duvel Green

2011-05-16T18:53:00.001-05:00

Above is a picture of my Spotted Cow Clone. It was glowing, so I had to take that pic.

Duval Green

Duvel makes an excellent Belgian golden ale. The brewery only makes a few different beers. Duvel clocks in at 8.5% ABV, and they get to that percentage in an interesting way. First they brew a 6.5% ABV beer that they ferment. Once fermentation is complete the beer is moved to a secondary fermenter where they add sugar and more yeast for a secondary fermentation. The beer is balanced with a champagne-like finish.

Getting back to that first fermentation, when the brewers finish the first fermentation and rack it to a secondary container, it seems that they always put a little aside to drink for themselves. Thus the name “Green”. They primary fermented beer became such a hit that they decided to keg some of it and send it out. I had a taste at Bigby’s Pour House in Addison. It was nice. Duvel Green only comes by the keg, and it is a real treat. For my 50th batch, I am brewing Duvel Green.

Duvel Green

5.25 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 84.00 %
1.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 16.00 %
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [3.40 %] (60 min) Hops 19.1 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (20 min) Hops 5.8 IBU
0.18 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale

50th Recipe Brewed!

2011-05-13T23:41:00.002-05:00

In two years and one month I have managed to brew 50 batches of beer. Only one recipe has managed to get brewed twice: Jack Porter. The rest were all tinkered with. If I found a recipe online or in a book that I liked I don’t think ever brewed it exactly as written. I always messed with it.

Experimentation
I didn’t (still don’t) know what a lot of brewing ingredients taste/smell like, so I conducted the famous hop experiments of 2010. That determined we grow Centennial hops in the Friar’s Garden.

Spotted Cow
Tom wanted Spotted Cow, so I found a recipe and took up the challenge. We got so close, that I had to figure it out, and I brewed five different clones. I’m not sure if I hit it, but I did find a grain bill I liked, and I hope to keep working with it to make a better beer.

Pale Ale & IPA
My work on pale ales and IPAs have shown me what crystal malt does to a beer. I have always considered a pale ale a simple easy brew. I consider Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to be the jumping off point for anyone interested in craft/home brewing. Pale ales aren’t easy, they are difficult to get right. There are so many on the market that it is a talent to brew an original and brew it just as you like it. I will be spending a lot of time getting my pale ale just right. Ditto on the IPA.

Porter & Stout
There is no doubt that porter and stout are my favorite styles. I hit on a good porter with my Jack Porter. I upped it with Porter 2, and Jacked it up again with Buster Porter. My greatest beer to date is the Dry Stout I brewed In Feb’ 2011 (Sorry, none left for you!). I have a Russian Imperial Stout at 11% ABV that will be ready around New Years Eve.

Gardener Ale
Dan, the gardener, has changed his view of what beer is. As we know, Dan does not shy away from new tastes. I have changed his view of dark beer. He likey it now! The Gardener works hard in his garden and needs a thirst-quenching beverage that won’t fill him up or dull his edge. I thought I would brew a beer for him that would fit that role. I did. I brewed the lightest beer I could. You know? It just wasn’t anything special. It has become clear to me that he respects the home brew so much, that he would never drink it from the bottle in the garden. Drinking a home brew is a ritual. Dan will drink his 64 in the garden, and the home brew in the house. I am revising the Gardener Ale for a re-release this summer.

Belgian
My two forays into Belgian styles, a dubbel & a tripel, were a disaster. It is not necessarily due to poor recipes, but more due to me making a a huge mistake. Okay, I meant to age the tripel for four months and bottle the dubbel after three weeks, but I aged the dubbel for four months and bottled the tripel after three weeks, and we drank the tripel thinking it was the dubbel (duh), and let the dubbel (which we thought was the tripel) sit and age for four months, after which, I bottled without adding any more yeast, and there it sits, flat. Anyone interested it?
Since then I have brewed asaison with Mexican sugar. I am optomistic.

50th brew
For my 50th brew I wanted something I would remember. I brewed Duvel Green. I will go into that clone in the next post.

¡Viva la Cerveceria de Ean McNulty!

Saison Duperry

2011-05-11T19:11:00.000-05:00

You may recall my blog-post about Saison ale.
http://eanmcnulty.blogspot.com/2010/08/french-saison.html
I finally brewed a saison! My favorite saison is Saison Dupont. I decided to do something a bit risky with the saison. Normally I would have researched twenty recipes, rewritten five of them, and brewed five variations of one of them. This time? I just went ahead and bought some Mexican piloncillo brown sugar and tossed it into the simplest recipe I could find. What the heck? I’ll try it. It is fermenting in the basement. Bottling will be in one week.

Saison Duperry

3.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.42 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.69 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.35 %
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.67 %
0.10 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.87 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min) Hops 13.1 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (5 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast Wyeast Labs #2565

Hops 2011

2011-05-11T18:50:00.000-05:00

Centennial Hops
The Centennial hops from last year are growing strong. They poked up about a month ago. The gadener has been hard at work prepping the land. We’re hoping for a pound or two of Centennials. I use 1-3oz. for a batch, so there should be enough for many brews.

Magnum Hops
This year the gardener started a second hops bine. Magnum hops are from Germany. They are mostly used to bitter beer due to their high alpha acid percentage. We choose them for that reason. Bittering hops don’t add any flavor or aroma to beer due to their being added at the beginning of the boil. The flavor and aroma boil away leaving only the bitterness. The longer they are boiled, the more bitterness they provide. I will be able to use them for any beer, and since they are so high in alpha acids, I can use a smaller amount. Economy.

Shagweed Brown Ale

2011-05-03T22:44:00.002-05:00

Have you ever had something that you think you should like, or you really want to like, but you don’t? For my brother, it is Reuben sandwiches. For me, it is brown ales. I don’t know why, but I really like the idea of brown ales. Maybe I think they are simple, easy to drink ales. I don’t know. Anyway, my goal is to brew a good ale that is brown. Shagweed is my next attempt at that brown ale.
It is named for David and Paul’s use of the word (or rather non-word) shagweed. According to David’s usage, shagweed is where his golf ball usually goes when it does not hit the fairway. Shagweed are the cards he can’t use in a game. Shagweed is the name of the brown ale that is the only thing left to drink in the house.

5.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.19 %
.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 7.41 %
.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 3.70 %
.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3.70 %
.50 oz Centennial [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 23.8 IBU
.25 oz Williamette [4.70 %] (25 min) Hops 4.6 IBU
.25 oz Centennial [8.50 %] (20 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
.25 oz Centennial [8.50 %] (10 min) Hops 4.3 IBU
.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkg SafAle American Ale US-05 Yeast

Assistant brewer: Zeppo

Efficiency, or How a Pale Ale becomes an IPA

2011-04-17T22:04:00.007-05:00

In brewing, malted grain is mashed (steeped) in hot water to convert starches to sugars. It is these sugars that the yeast eat to create alcohol and co2. Only a certain amount of sugar can be extracted from an amount of grain. If the grain is steeped in the mash tun in only half of the total brewing water, then it can be drained, and the other half of water can be used to rinse the grain. This is called sparging (rinsing). I have been brewing with a no-sparge method, where I add all of the brewing water to the mash tun, and then I simply drain it and brew. No-sparge brewing requires extra grain, because it is less efficient (about 65% efficiency). Much of the sugar is left behind in the mash tun. With the amounts that I brew, efficiency is not a concern for me. The extra grain may only cost a dollar or two more. For a commercial brewery efficiency is very important. With sparging, 80-85% efficiency is possible.
When I brew I use Beer Smith brewing software. Before I create a recipe I need to set some numbers in the program, so it knows my “system”. I usually set the efficiency at 65%, because up to now I have been no-sparge brewing. Well, I have begun to brew a slightly larger batch size, due to losses from evaporation, siphoning, and idiocy. Instead of 2.5 gallon batches, I now brew 3 gallon batches. I will get about 20-24 bottles out of a batch this size. So, I now need to sparge.
Today I brewed a second experiment of Krunk Pale Ale - named after Jay. I forgot to change the efficiency in the Beer Smith software. Instead of 65%, I should have set it to about 75-80%. As you can imagine, the mash was a lot more efficient than what I set to recipe for. Instead of getting an original gravity of 1.060 (top end of the pale ale style), I hit 1.071. 1.071 original gravity is well into the India Pale Ale style. So, a recipe for Krunk Pale Ale became a recipe for Janahead IPA. And instead of 5.75% ABV, it will be 6.75% ABV. Nysche!

American Pale Ale

2011-04-15T23:17:00.005-05:00

Brewing is going strong. I wish the weather would get better.
I haven’t tried to brew a pale ale since the famous Hop Experiments of April/May 2010. That’s a whole year!
I’m going to be concentrating on pale ales this Spring and Summer. Every brewer needs a basic pale ale. For me I feel that brewing starts with pale ale. It can be simple or complex. It can be very light to deep red. It can be low in ABV or medium to high. It can be mild to hoppy. When I think of brewing I think of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale first. I still buy it. All breweries have a pale ale, and they are all a little different. Some are very English tasting, but I like the American flavors. It’s in the yeast and the hops. Sierra Nevada uses Cascade hops. Even though this pale ale does not use Cascades, it does use Centennial hops, which have been called Super Cascades. I think I want my home pale ale to use Centennials, because that is the type of hops Dan is growing, and I think I am going to have a surplus of them. They are high in alpha acids, so I can use them for bittering, flavoring, or aroma (ing?).
Two things I am working on now with my pale ale are the malt bill and the mash temperature. Crystal malt can add a real sweetness to the beer. I have noticed in my research that many recipes use Crystal for 5%-15% of the malt bill. When I made the hop experiments I was using Crystal for 16% of the malt bill. That, plus the fact that I was usually very high on my mash temperature made for a mash that was high in un-fermatable sugars. That means the beer had a thick mouth-feel, and it was overly sweet.
This time I am keeping the Crystal at about 6% of the malt bill. As I make changes with subsequent batches I will play with mash-temp and crystal percentages.
The brew went exactly as planned, except for the impromptu party that followed (including Jameson shots on a school-night!). I hit all my numbers, and it is bubbling away next to the Creamy Cows and RIS.

EMBc Pale Ale 2011 #1
7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 93.33 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.67 %
0.50 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) Hops 37.9 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.90 %] (15 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.90 %] (0 min) Hops -
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale (Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Please leave a comment.

Cow Marathon!

2011-04-04T20:42:00.001-05:00

All five Spotted Cow clone batches have officially been brewed. Marathon brewing happened this past weekend. Four days in-a-row! I'd like to thank Tom Raine for idea to brew this beer last summer.

For the fourth version of Creamy Cow I kept the recipe the same as version three, but I used some Safale K-97, which is supposed to be a Kolsch strain. Not many places carry it, so even if it works out, I might not be able to get it easily.

Spotted Cow Clone #4
3.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.42 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.69 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.35 %
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.67 %
0.10 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.87 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min) Hops 13.1 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (5 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle Kolsch Ale (Fermentis #K-97) Yeast-Ale

For the fifth version I went back to my second recipe with the Vienna malt, but I used the K-97 yeast that I used in #4.

Creamy Cow #5
3.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 55.25 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.42 %
1.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 18.42 %
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.60 %
0.18 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 3.31 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min) Hops 17.3 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (5 min) Hops 2.4 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs SafAle Kolsch Ale (Fermentis #K-97) Yeast-Ale

It was a brewing marathon this weekend! Spring Break is the best!

Russian Imperial Stout

2011-04-01T21:05:00.002-05:00

In the 18th and 19th century brewers would ship a strong stout to the Russian court. These Russian Imperial Stout were highly hopped to preserve the beer on its journey, and they were high in alcohol to keep the beer from freezing. For me and you, we get an awesome rich beer.

Wow! Look at that mash tun. It barely fit all that grain.

My Russian Imperial Stout (RIS) will sit in the fermenter for about 3-4 months, then it will be bottled and aged for another 4 months. Strong beers really benefit from aging. They mellow. So my RIS will be ready around winter break. Chris Goodwin came over as assistant brewer. He is a brewer with great skills and good ideas. He is not afraid to brew big.

EMBc Russian Imperial Stout
13.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 91.23 %
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
0.25 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.75 %
1.00 oz Nugget [13.00 %] (90 min) Hops 58.4 IBU
0.75 oz Centennial [9.90 %] (20 min) Hops 18.9 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle American Ale US-05 (DCL Fermentis #US-05) Yeast-Ale

Creamy Cow 3

2011-03-31T15:57:00.001-05:00

I have brewed my Spotted Cow clone twice now. I changed the recipe from the first to the second. Results were positive.
For the third version of Creamy Cow, I am going to swap the Vienna malt for some Munich malt. Munich malt is what gives Oktoberfest brews their color. Munich will give the orange color and corn will keep it light.
There will be two more experiments, and then I am going to settle on my official recipe, and I am going to brew a lot of it.

Creamy Cow #3
3.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 65.42 %
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 18.69 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.35 %
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 4.67 %
0.10 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 1.87 %
0.75 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min) Hops 13.1 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (5 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565) Yeast-Ale

2011 Brewing Season Open!

2011-02-13T13:26:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!
Wow! It’s been two months since I brewed, and two months since I blogged, and I still have my Belgian tripel sitting in the secondary fermenter. Don’t worry; it’ll be fine.

New Name
As you can see I changed the name of the blog to EMBc - Ean McNulty Brewing Co. It was time to dispense with Blue Tape Black Marker. I don’t use blue tape or black markers to label the beer.

New Pages
In the column to the left I have started adding stand-alone pages that explain my brewing process. Eventually, I hope that someone could read it and brew some beer. It is going to take me some time to complete. If you happen to look at it I would appreciate any questions, clarifications, comments, or suggestions on those pages.

Experiments and Recipes
I have three more experiments to conduct on my Spotted Cow clone recipe. That’s at least 60 more bottles of Creamy Cow to drink. Once I have decided on a recipe I am going to brew it as often as I can. This is the Year of the Cow. I am also going to continue to work on my house pale ale. Those hop experiments last year were a part of this pursuit. I have some good ideas I am excited to try. One of which is to use crystal 60L instead of Crystal 20L and to use less of it.

Dry Stout
I brewed my first beer of 2011. It is a dry stout. I had hoped to get it brewed back in January, so it would be ready for St. Patrick’s Day, but I got sick, and it was really cold outside. I hope to brew at least 30 more batches this year. It has been so long since I brewed I almost forgot how good the grain smells when I grind it and when I mash it. I’m drinking porter #2. Really fantastic.

Dry Stout
3.75# Pale 2 Row 75%
.50# Barley, Flaked 10%
.50# Black (Patent) 10%
.25# Roasted Barley 5%
.5oz Goldings, East Kent [hops 4.50 %] (60 min)
.25oz Styrian Goldings [hops 3.40 %] (60 min)
.50oz Goldings, East Kent [hops 5.00 %] (30 min)
.25t Irish Moss (10 min)
SafAle American Ale US-05 Yeast

Creamy Cow 2

2010-12-13T20:13:00.001-06:00

Brewed Creamy Cow 2! There were only fifteen bottles of it. Everyone liked the first batch. Might have to brew a double batch next time.
I am finding it hard to share my brew, because I brew such small batches. I would like to share more.

Recipe:
3.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
1.00 lb Corn, Flaked
1.00 lb Vienna Malt
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked
0.18 lb Crystal Malt 20L
1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [2.40 %] (60 min)
0.50 oz Saaz [6.80 %] (0 min)
1 Pkgs Kolsch Yeast (Wyeast Labs #2565)

OG = 1.058
SRM = 5.1
IBUs = 17.3
Est. ABV = 6.13%

Sprocket Ale - Fat Tire Clone

2010-11-26T13:18:00.001-06:00

Mikey likey Fat Tire Amber Ale. I gotta try it! After looking around the internet and www.homebrewtalk.com, I decided that I needed to come up with this clone myself. Being resourceful, I went to New Belgium’s website to see what they said about it. How nice! They list the ingredients and the IBU’s, SRM, and O.G. Those are very technical brewing initialisms for very technical brewing terms.

Oh, okay. IBU’s are International Bittering Units, SRM’s are..., um, I don’t know, but they describe the color on a spectrum, and O.G. is the Original Gravity, which indicates the amount of sugar in a wort. Wort is non-fermented beer.

So, using my handy dandy brewing software, Beer Smith, I formulated a recipe that meets the IBU’s, SRM, and O.G. Finding the right yeast strain is important. From what I have been able to gather, Fat Tire uses a California yeast strain, and not a Belgian strain. It does not have any Belgian character, so I don’t know why I thought it would be a Belgian yeast strain. Must be the little story on the label.

So, then I received my new issue of Brew Your Own magazine. In it is an article about New Belgium Brewing, AND there is an actual recipe for Fat Tire. So, changed my calculations and went with a hybrid of both recipes.

Mike assisted last Sunday, and we brewed it up. Bubbling away in the fermenter in the basement. I would like to give props to Mikey for being the best assistant yet. He brews, he cleans, and we were done in 3 hrs 15 min. You other assistants need to step it up!

Sprocket Ale (Fat Tire Clone)
3.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 71.43 %
0.75 lb Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
0.25 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
0.25 oz Williamette Hops [5.50 %] (60 min) Hops 9.8 IBU
0.25 oz Williamette Hops [5.50 %] (20 min) Hops 5.9 IBU
0.25 oz US Kent Goldings Hops [5.00 %] (10 min)
0.25 tsp Irish Moss (15 min)
1 Pkg US-05 American Ale Yeast

OG = 1.053
SRM = 11.8
IBUs = 19
Est. ABV = 5.21%

Belgian Tripel - Mt Hood Hops

2010-11-15T21:25:00.005-06:00

Had a party here back in September with Pasquale, Patricia, Dan, NIkki, Dan, and Alice. It was an all out beer tasting. We tried it all the styles. I think everyone had a great time.
Pasquale brought me a gift from Wisconsin: 3.5 ounces of Mount Hood Hops, home grown by a friend. Suuuweet! Mt Hood hops were bred from Hallertauer Mittelfrau hops from Germany. Hallertauer hops are noble hops. Mt Hood has similar characteristics. Therefore they are excelllent for many American versions of European beer styles. What should I do with them? I know! I’ll brew a Belgian Tripel.

A tripel is a pale ale from Belgium that is light in color, but strong in flavor. I brewed my Belgian Tripel about two weeks ago. I will rack it to a secondary fermenter this week to bulk age. Over Winter Break I will bottle it. We will be drinking tripel in February. Ah, what the hell; we’ll have mussels with tripel like the dubbel.

The Trappist monastery at Westmalle, just northeast of Antwerp, Belgium, is the originator of the tripel. Also known as the originator of the dubbel, Westmalle has been brewing since 1836. A tripel is a strong pale ale. The term tripel is debated, but it probably has to do with a “third” level of alcohol. Those levels would probably be equivalent to the following: level 1 = 3-4%, level 2 = 5-7%, and level 3 = 8-10%. There is also a quadruple, and that would be above 10%.
My tripel is based on a Dragonmead Final Absolution clone recipe that I found on www.homebrewtalk.com.

Tripel Recipe:

6.33 lb Belgian Pilsner 2 Row malt
1.00 lb Caravienne Malt
1.00 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar
0.50 oz Northern Brewer Hops (60 min)
0.50 oz Mt. Hood Hops (15 min)
0.50 oz Mt. Hood Hops (5 min)
Belgian Abbey II #1762)

OG = 1.097
SRM = 9.1
IBUs = 33.1
Est. ABV = 10.1%

Jack Porter - Birthday Ale

2010-11-15T20:23:00.004-06:00

Jack received a porter recipe for his birthday. Lucky Jack! I was trying to find a good name for it: Ean Porter, Pummeledhead Porter, Porter Porter..., I was lost. Then, Jack Porter just sounded right.
Jack brought Lyle, from two doors down, with him. I think Lyle enjoyed brewing and tasting beer. They have both been included as assistants. Jack will get the entire batch as his birthday present. It’s up to Jack to share it with Lyle, from two doors down.

Recipe:
Jack Porter
5# Pale 2-row Malt
.25# Crystal Malt 20L
.25# Chocolate Malt
.13# Black Patent Malt
Centennial Hops
Fermentis Safale US-05 Yeast

OG = 1.059
SRM = 26.7
IBUs = 33.4
Est. ABV = 6.13%

Simple again!

Gardener Ale - Birthday Ale

2010-11-08T18:59:00.002-06:00

For Dan’s birthday I put together the grain bill, hops, and yeast that makes up the Gardener Ale recipe. Dan and I brewed on Sunday, and he is going to get the lot. Nice present, eh? You should be so lucky! Gardener Ale is made with pale malt and rice, but the hops will change with each batch. Blonde ales are nice light ales, but still not as light as Lite. It’s a medium beer.

Gardener Ale (Medium Beer)
3# Pale 2-row Malt
1# Flaked Rice
Centennial Hops
Fermentis Safale US-05 Yeast

OG = 1.047
SRM = 3.0
IBUs = 23.5
Est. ABV = 5.08%

Brown Ales

2010-10-16T15:06:00.003-05:00

I have brewed three brown ales so far. I really enjoy a brown ale that is less on the nutty side. My first two attempts at the brown were less on the nutty side but also less-than stellar. I brewed the same grain-bill in each, but in the second batch I doubled the hops additions. You would think that sounds nice, but you would be wrong. The first brown was boring and malty. The second brown is less boring and malty. That’s about all I can say about them. Here is what went wrong. I used my pale ale recipe and just added some Belgian Special B. Special B is a dark crystal malt that is used in Belgian dubbels and darker ales. Special B is what gives those beers their raisiny flavor.
For the third brown I adapted a recipe from www.homebrewtalk.com. At the first tasting, after only a week in the bottle, it has potential, but it was still “green.” Now, it’s a pretty good beer, but it isn’t where I want Ean McNulty Brown Ale to be.
I just worked on another brown ale. It is a simple recipe that looks to be very good. Will be brewing it in the future.

I thought I would try the pale recipe with Special B and call it a brown ale. Eh…
Brown Ale 1
5.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
1.00 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
0.36 lb Special B Malt
60 min 0.25 oz Chinook Hops
20 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
SafAle American Ale Yeast US-05

OG = 1.062
SRM = 18.1
IBUs = 30.6
Est. ABV = 6.27%

Maybe if I doubled the hops? Eh…, again.
Brown Ale 2
5.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
1.00 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
0.36 lb Special B Malt
50 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
50 min 0.25 oz Chinook Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Chinook Hops
SafAle American Ale Yeast US-05

OG = 1.054
SRM = 18.1
IBUs = 43
Est. ABV = 5.21%

Maybe I’ll try a real brown ale recipe. Nice!
Brown Ale 3
5.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
0.50 lb Crystal Malt - 60L
0.25 lb Barley, Flaked
0.25 lb Victory Malt
0.15 lb Chocolate Malt
60 min 0.50 oz Centennial Hops
15 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
SafAle American Ale Yeast US-05

OG = 1.055
SRM = 18.6
IBUs = 39.4
Est. ABV = 5.35%

Naming Beer

2010-10-11T09:29:00.003-05:00

Most brewers give names to their beers like Torpedo IPA, or Domaine Dupage farm house ale...
I have been reluctant to name beers where the recipe was not my own and where I had not perfected the recipe. Well, I am officially calling my Spotted Cow clone Creamy Cow. It is a cream ale.
I just came up with a new name for my summer ale. Since I brewed it for the garder, I am calling it Gardener Ale. It is a light refreshing beer meant for being out in the hot sun. My recipe is set. I might do a little messing with it, but I have the recipe.
Ean McNulty Brewing Co. Beer List:
Ean McNulty Creamy Cow - cream ale
Ean McNulty Gardener Ale - blonde ale

Belgian Dubbel

2010-10-09T17:37:00.003-05:00

Today I brewed a Belgian dubbel. A dubbel is a strong ale that originated at monasteries in Belgium. It has a complex flavor that hints at cherries, raisins, plums, and spice. It is a dark red color. Chimay red is a Belgian dubbel. The alcohol is in the 7% range. This beer will be aged for a few months before drinking. To me, I find that many of the Belgian ales go well with dinner, especially mussels. Mussels at my house!

Recipe:
6.25 lb Belgian Pilsner 2 Row
1.00 lb Munich Malt
0.10 lb Aromatic Malt
0.10 lb Special B Malt
0.18 lb Dark Candi Sugar
60 min 0.50 oz Styrian Goldings Hops
15 min 0.25 oz Saaz Hops
Wyeast Belgian Ale #1214

OG = 1.073
SRM = 17.6
IBUs = 15.5
Est. ABV = 8.11%

Spotted Cow Clone

2010-10-02T18:48:00.005-05:00

Ean McNulty Creamy Cow was brewed on July 8. Tom came over to help brew, and it was his request. I researched Spotted Cow online and at www.homebrewtalk.com (HBT), and formulated a recipe for my brewing system. I found out that Spotted Cow is a cream ale, thus the name Creamy Cow. The Cow was a little lighter in color, a little more cloudy/dull, and the flavor was off just a little. I know that all doesn’t sound so good, but I am really surprised how close I came to making Spotted Cow. I’m sorry that the only Creamy Cow I have left is the archive bottle and the private stock bottle. If you want to taste Creamy Cow, you have to come drink my private stock bottle (24oz) with me.
Don’t give up hope!
I brewed the second batch of Creamy Cow. I made some minor changes to the recipe for color. Jay told me to be careful, because the first Creamy Cow was almost perfect. Those are some high marks! We shall see how close I am in about five weeks.
In the next Spotted Cow clone I am going to swap the Vienna malt for Munich malt.

Creamy Cow #1
3.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
1.00 lb Flaked Corn
0.75 lb Flaked Barley
0.50 lb Vienna Malt
0.18 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
60 min 0.53 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh Hops
Wyeast Kolsch Yeast #2565

Here is the recipe with some minor adjustments and a Hop Swap.
Creaamy Cow #2
3.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
1.00 lb Flaked Corn
1.00 lb Vienna Malt
0.25 lb Flaked Barley
0.18 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
60 min 1.00 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker Hops
0 min 0.50 oz Saaz Hops
Wyeast Kolsch Yeast #2565

OG = 1.047
SRM = 4.8
IBUs = 18.2
Est. ABV = 4.69%

Hops Experiment Results

2010-09-30T12:00:00.001-05:00

I guess I kind of left everyone hanging about the Hops Experiment Pale Ales. What were the results? I think the results are unofficial. I only had two informal tastings. It's the informal part that makes me hesitate to give the results. I do have two bottles of each experiment ale if anyone is interested in partaking in an official tasting.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
7 Pale Ales - 7 Different Hops
Hops - Cascade, Amarillo, Centennial, Chinook, SImcoe, Citra, Columbus
Grains - 5# Pale 2-row malt, 1# Crystal 20L malt
All pale ales were adjusted to meet the same International Bittering Units (IBUs) - 45 IBUs
OG - 1.050
The favorite ales in order are Centennial, Chinook, Cascade, Columbus, Amarillo, Simcoe, Citra.
Citra is a hop that is used to make Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA so nice. I think I will only be using it as an aroma hop in the future.
Simcoe is a hop I have used before. It gives a grapefruit sort of flavor and aroma. In batch #8 it was the only hop used. I didn’t much care for it on it’s own, but the last bottle I tried it tasted and smelled like oranges. I wil be experimenting with Simcoe in the future.
Amarillo is a nice hop when used with other hops. I like it a lot mixed with Cascade, the citrusy American pale ale hop.
Centennial was by far the most liked hop. Lucky for us we are growing Centennial hops. You will find Centennials in many of the future brews.
Finally, The rest of the “C” hops. They are the favorites, and my new Ean McNulty Pale Ale will probably contain all of them, with Centennial being the featured hop.

Hops Update

2010-09-20T20:09:00.003-05:00

It has been over two months and we have sighted hops! There are cones on the plant. The bines are up to the gutter: at least ten feet. Ean McNulty house gardener, Dan, had informed me that we have some cones growing. I ran over there to see for myself. I’m not sure if we will get enough to brew with this year, but they are a beautiful sight! I took one with me. I cannot detect a hop aroma. It smells more like a flower at this point. Stay tuned for more up dates.

Porter and Holiday Porter

2010-09-11T16:51:00.004-05:00

Porter has to be one of my favorite styles. It may be my favorite. I brewed the first one of the season last week. Hopeful!

Holiday Porter is on it’s way! I don’t know how this beer is going to turn out. It smelled like I was making pumpkin pie when I was brewing. I used some nutmeg, allspice, and Cinnamon at the end of the boil. The spices were strained as the beer went into the fermenter, so I’m hoping they are not going to be too strong. Better they are weak in the first batch.
Spiced ales and flavored ales are not for pounding one after the other. It’s the kind of beer you look at, smell, and taste. You don’t drink when you are eating or are otherwise occupied. You give it some effort. Just have one, enjoy it, then move on to your favorite ale or lager.

EM Porter
5.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
0.25 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt
0.13 lb Black Patent Malt
60 min 0.50 oz Centennial Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
0 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
SafAle American Ale yeeast US-05

OG = 1.056
SRM = 26.7
IBUs = 33.4
Est. ABV = 5.48%

EM Holiday Porter
5.00 lb Pale Malt 2 Row
0.25 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
0.25 lb Chocolate Malt
0.13 lb Black Patent Malt
60 min 0.50 oz Centennial Hops
5 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
0 min 0.25 oz Centennial Hops
SafAle American Ale yeeast US-05
5 min 0.05 oz Allspice
5 min 0.05 oz Cinnamon Stick
5 min 0.05 oz Nutmeg

OG = 1.052
SRM = 26.7
IBUs = 33.4
Est. ABV = 5.21%

Oktoberfest Marzen!

2010-08-25T21:42:00.005-05:00

16 days? 17 Days? 18 Days? Does it matter? The funny thing about Oktoberfest is that the majority of it is in September. Originally, Oktoberfest was to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig and and Princess Therese. It lasts for 16 days and ends on the first Sunday in October. This year it begins September 18.
Also, this year marks the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest! That sounds special!
All you blog followers need to get yourself some Marzen beer this year to celebrate.
Traditionally, Oktoberfest beer is brewed in March and aged in caves in Bavaria until September. That's how they kept it cool. Marzen (March) beer is a lager. Diligent readers know that lagers must be aged at very cool (cold) temperatures. That is beyond my current system, and I don't have a cave. Therefore, I will not be brewing a Marzen anytime soon. Anyone who has a fridge (small) to donate to EMBc will be rewarded with some lager.
As I said previously, I really like Ayinger Marzen. Had it on tap at the Bavarian Lodge. You can get in the bottle at Sal's in Addison, so I assume you can get it at Binny's. This is an opportunity for you. These beers are seasonal. Get out there and find a Marzen or anything that says Oktoberfest on it. Many American breweries join in on this one.

P.S. Pumpkin beer has lately been called October beer or Fall beer or Autumn beer. It is not Oktoberfest beer. DO NOT BE FOOLED. You can try it. I was not impressed.

End of Summer Ale

2010-08-25T18:39:00.002-05:00

I bottled the second summer ale last night. It is very light, but I am surprised how much malt flavor there is. I wonder how they actually make those light beers so light? I mean I can brew, and then just add a bunch of water if that is how they do it. Well, that's it for the light beers until next year. We're on to the dark stuff.

Oktoberfest is here! At least the beer is here. Saturday I went to the Bavarian Lodge with Jeff and Jean, and we had the Ayinger Marzen Oktoberfest. I was drinking this beer last year, and it is one of the best I have ever had. It is even better on tap. Let's go to the Bavarian Lodge and get some more!

Bottling Ean McNulty Pale Ale tonight. The Spotted Cow clone is excellent. I am surprise I actually brewed it. The recipe needs some tweaking. I am going to brew it again with a couple of changes.

If you want beer, come and get it!

French Saison

2010-08-24T11:36:00.003-05:00

I was watching "From Russia, With Love" last night. There was a scene on the train from Istanbul to Zagreb where Bond was with Tatiana in the dinning car. On the bulkhead behind her was a poster for a French saison. A saison is a style of French farm house ale. Up until this year I would have thought that was a poster for wine or something. Now, I know. I might try making a Saison one day. They are fermented from mid 70F to the mid 80F, and they can be very fruity or flowery, and maybe a bit sour tasting. I had a bottle of Saison du Pont in Galena with a bowl of mussels and it was the perfect beer for that.

7 Foot Hops!!!

2010-08-20T19:05:00.003-05:00

Yes, we planted them too late in the season, but they continue to climb. About a foot a week! They are 7 Feet high. Take a look.

Could this be the beginning of a flower?

Ploughy Stars

2010-08-20T16:46:00.002-05:00

My new pic is an old Irish flag; the Plough and Stars.
Well, I was knocked out by some sort of virus, but I am back, Babbyyyy!

Brown Ale
I have recently bottled two brown ales. The both were made with the same recipe, but I doubled the hops in the second. I think the second is going to be the better. Also, in the fermenter is a third brown ale. This one is very different then the first two, and I am hopeful that it too is going to be really good. It has a much more complex grain bill. To be bottled in a week or so.

Blonde Ale
I brewed a summer blondes ale earlier this summer, and it was much more flavorful than I thought it would be. I'm trying to brew what is sometimes called a lawnmower beer. So, I brewed a second using only 3# of barley and 1# of rice. Should be pretty light.

Pale Ale
After the hop tastings I was a little tired of the pale ale. But, worry not, the pale ale is fermenting away and will be bottled sometime next week.

Dubbel
I have my dubbel recipe on hold for now. The grain I need does not come pre-milled, and it looks like it would be a mess to mill it all at the homebrew shop. I hope to obtain a mill for the brewery soon. When I am ready to brew it I will give some info on the beer style.

Porter
As we head into the cold part of the year I like to have some porter around. I put together a nice porter, and I am also going to try to make a special holiday porter with some spices added. Those will be brewed in the next couple of weeks.

Stay tuned for the hops vines update!

Brewing!!!!

2010-08-03T14:56:00.000-05:00

I'm brewing as I write this. Today was my first try at the RECIPE. Every brewery should begin with pale ale. It is basic. It is usually on the milder side, but it doesn’t have to be. It is a nice middle beer. I know my brother Jay likes pale ale, so I am naming it Jay Pay Crunkin Ale, a sweet nickname given to him by our brother Jeff.
The recipe is what I consider my first try at my own ale. This is still a beginning, but we have some of the ingredients worked out. The hop experiments showed that we love Centennial hops. I think pale 2-row malt is the base, and I have added crystal malt and a little Vienna malt. We shall see how it goes. Ready in six weeks!
Hop Growing Update: The gardener has informed me that the hops are approaching three feet high!

Hops Grow Fast!

2010-07-22T21:54:00.007-05:00

The head gardener at EMBc has explained to me that hops can grow up to one foot each day! We might have a hops growing watching party, and watch those babies grow.

Here they are after two weeks in the dirt:

And here they are after two weeks and five days:

IN THE WORKS:
I have bottled a summer ale. The style is really called blonde ale. It is lighter than the pale ales, but not by much. For the very yellow color, there is a lot of flavor. I am planning another summer ale before this summer is over. I am going to use some rice to get it lighter.
Two brown ales have beer brewed. They are pretty much the same recipe, however I upped the hops in the second one. The first one has been bottled. I may have mashed at too high a temp, because the final gravity is too high. Live and learn.
And finally, I have a New Glarus Spotted Cow clone in the fermenter. I put the recipe together from a few different recipes I found online. I hit the original gravity on the head, and the color looks pretty good. Bottling will happen in about a week and a half.
Next: another summer ale, another brown ale (different recipe), and a first official try at Ean McNulty Pale Ale. I might name it for my brother Jay: "Jay Pay Crunkin Ale".

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MAKE A COMMENT

HOPS!!!!

2010-07-12T13:14:00.004-05:00

Ean McNulty Brewing has a hops farm. Our head gardener Dan C. planted two Centennial Hops Rhizomes on Friday, July 2 in pots. Rhizomes are like clipping of the roots of a previous plant. We planted them upright about an inch below the surface. Once the hops have grown a little, they will be transferred to the ground. Below, Dan prepares the soil:

Here are the hops one week later!

Stay tuned for updates.

Brewing Rig

2010-06-27T21:46:00.005-05:00

I went from this:

To this:

Now, brewing will go even more smoothly than before!

Wort Chiller #3!

2010-06-25T17:32:00.003-05:00

Here is a pic of the new wort chiller. It is a counter-flow wort chiller. There is a copper tube running inside the length of the rubber hose. By soldering the copper connections, the hot wort runs inside the copper tube, and the cold water runs outside the copper tube but inside the hose. It works really well.

Modified Brew Pot

2010-06-25T17:09:00.002-05:00

Here is a photo of the brew pot. I added the port and the thermometer. This is a test run on the stove.

Blue Tape Black Marker

2010-06-24T23:18:00.000-05:00

Here is a pic of the propane burner I bought. It will shorten my heating times.

Broken Thermometer!

2010-06-10T22:00:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I set up to brew. Got the equipment out, preheated the mash tun, set the water to heat on the propane burner. Well, I put the digital thermometer in, and when it hit 161F, I mashed-in. It was supposed to rest at 154F. An hour later I checked it with my floating thermometer. It would rise past 120F. I put my hand in. Yep, about 120F. It seems that the digital thermometer has bitten the dust. I have been using the floating thermometer since, but it is a little slow to rise. So, new ways to check temperature is big on my list of new equipment.
The new Banjo Burner propane burner has arrived. It's huge!
Today I drilled a hole in my brew pot. I am adding a ball valve to drain the wort. I need an extra stainless steal washer. Neither Ace, Menards or Home Depot had one. I have to order it online. Expensive too! $2.50 for the washer and $5.00 for shipping. So, I made better use of my order and also ordered a couple more washers, and a built-in thermometer to be installed on the brew pot.
I also bought fittings for a new wort chiller. Yes, that's right. My third one. This one will be a counter-flow wort chiller. Instead of placing the chiller into the brew pot and run cold water through it, I will attach the ball valve on the brew pot to the counter-flow chiller, and the wort will flow through the chiller. A copper tube is run through a garden hose, so as the wort flows down from the pot in the copper tube, the cold water flows up through the hose. It is the fastest way to cool the wort to pitching temperature.
Once I have all this junk working right, I am going to build a brewing stand to hold it all. I'll get some pictures.
Hop Experiment tastings coming soon!

Summer Ale, Brown Ales, the Future, and Janahead

2010-06-03T18:02:00.004-05:00

I bottled two more Hop Experiments, #18 Centennial & #19 Chinook, today. In the next week I will bottle #20 Citra & #21 Columbus. That will complete the hop experiments for this year. In about three weeks we will begin the hop tastings.

Next I am going to brew a summer ale. I cannot brew a lager, because I don't have a refrigerated fermentation chamber. Lagers need to be fermented around 35 degrees. So, I am going to brew what is called a blonde ale. I am going to add a few more hops to it the the style calls for. We'll see.

Then, I want to begin trying out some brown ales. I like brown ales, but I have not yet had the one I know I am going to love. Does that make sense? I know I like them, but none of them are perfect. This is why I brew: to make the beer I want to drink. Brown ales will be available in September/October. That will lead to a couple of Fall/Holiday Porters and Winter/Spring Stouts, and an Irish Red Ale for March. I will continue to work on Pale Ales and IPAs. I am still seeking that one recipe that will earn the name JANAHEAD IPA.

Small Batch/No Sparge - Wort Chiller

2010-05-19T20:40:00.005-05:00

I brewed four batches in six days. I thought I would take Monday and Tuesday off. The Hop Experiment beers have been brewed. There are only going to be seven, because Brew and Grow, Roselle, didn't have any Summit hops. That will have to wait for another series of experiments. Here is a picture of the four American Pale Ales fermenting in the new 3 gallon plastic Better Bottles. I love these things. So easy.

Okay, talking about cooling that wort! I have built two immersion chillers. They work, but in order to really get the temp down, I need to stir the wort. I really don’t like putting anything into the wort while it is cooling. More chances of getting nasties into the beer. I don’t want to deal with a pump. I am trying to use less equipment, not more. And I don’t want to use ice anymore if I can help it. That will depend on the temp of the water from my hose. In the fall, winter and spring it is no problem. We’ll see about the temp this summer.
There are two ways to go. I could get a plate chiller or a counter-flow chiller(CFC). They basically work the same way. Both would need to be cleaned and sanitized inside. I can probably make a CFC for about half the price of a plate chiller, but the plate chiller is really small. I like the idea of having my equipment take up less space. I would like to have one soon. My research continues.

Small Batch/No Sparge - Brew Pot

2010-05-14T16:51:00.004-05:00

More about the equipment:
I plan to either add a port to my current brew pot, or I am going to buy a better, thicker-walled brew pot that has a port and a thermometer already on it. Nysche! The port is a ball-valve that will allow me to drain the wort near the bottom of the pot and through some sort of chiller and into the fermenter. It is easier to remove the trub/hops/proteins from the wort by creating a whirlpool and then draining. I want to get a new chiller that will bring the temperature of the wort down to 70F from 212F in about ten minutes. Right now it is taking me over an hour. My goal is to get the whole process down to 3-31/2 hours. On a good day I could brew four batches! Well, that is just crazy-talk.

Small Batch/No Sparge - Small Fermenters

2010-05-13T22:40:00.001-05:00

I have purchased (will it never end?) two 3-gallon Batter Bottles. Better Bottles are plastic, and they are made for brewing and wine making. There are many benefits to using Better Bottles; they are lighter than glass; they won’t break if dropped like glass; and like glass they don’t let in oxygen. They are different than plastic buckets, because you can see the fermenting beer inside. They can scratch like plastic buckets, but I am going to try to be careful about cleaning them.
I really like these small fermenters. They are perfect for 2.5-gallon batches of beer. There is just enough room at the top for the krausen to form. That is the form you see in the pictures from previous blog entries. One day I am going to video the swirling fermentation for you. My goal is to have about four of these small fermenters. I have an idea for a temperature-controlled fermentation chamber that will not be too big and will hold four of these fermenters. Yeah, CC doesn’t know about that little project, yet. Now, she does.

Bottled #17 tonight; brewing #18 tomorrow night.

#14!!!

2010-05-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

The Hop Experiment began with batch #15. Batch #14 was the first successful all-grain batch. Ian was the assistant. I think he was the missing ingredient. Well, #14 is the best beer I have brewed to date. It’s a Centennial Hopped India Pale Ale at about 6.6% ABV. This is why I wanted to brew beer.

Hop Experiments - 8 total

2010-05-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

I am currently in the midst of a hop experiment. I know I have mentioned this before. I want to see how different hops taste and smell. Well, my progression from extract to partial-mash to all-grain kind of messed up the scientific method. So, I began again using all-grain, and I have already brewed three 2.5 gallon batches. I get about 18 12-ounce bottles from that.

My grain bill is simple:
5# American 2-row malted barely
1# caramel malt

Then I just use a single type of hops. I have to balance the amount for each brew. Hops are measured by their percentage of alpha acids. For example, the Cascade hops I used had 7.5% alpha acids, and the Amarillo hops had 8.2%, and the Simcoe had 12.2%. The Simcoe were quite a bit stronger than the others, so I had to use less of them to keep the bitterness, taste, and aroma balanced between the batches. There will be eight batches total (I only brewed nine total last year!) I hope to have them all brewed by May 21 and bottled by June 3.

Hop Experiments
Cascade Pale Ale (bottled)
Amarillo Pale Ale (bottled)
Simcoe Pale Ale (bottled)
Centennial Pale Ale (to brew)
Chinook Pale Ale (to brew)
Citra Pale Ale (to brew)
Summit Pale (to brew)
Columbus Pale Ale (to brew)

Ean McNulty Brewing - Small Batch, No Sparge

2010-04-23T23:07:00.003-05:00

This is what I am working on these days. It actually has to do with a variety of things, but let me just say I want brewing to be faster, streamlined, and efficient.

Pros

1. I want to brew more often, and storage can be a problem, so I am going to brew smaller 2.5g batches.

2. Bottling is faster with 2.5g batches - less beer!

3. Smaller plastic Better Bottle carboys - they can't break, they bounce.

4. I can boil the entire batch in my current 20qt brew pot.

5. I can mash any beer in my current 5g mash tun.

6. Smaller batches = less money per batch.

7. I want to build a brewing rig, but I don't want to store a brewing rig. So, smaller.

8. No sparge. It cost more, because it is less efficient, but at 2.5g, the cost is pennies!

Cons

Less beer for you.

I will describe the process later.

Adios!

Brewing Chaos and A Tasting

2010-04-18T13:45:00.002-05:00

We drank the 2009 archives last Saturday. Yes, even my mom drank beer. She didn't like it, but she drank it. I still have to go through the tasting sheets to see the results of which beer was best...

I brewed batch #15 yesterday. And, so, again, it didn't go as planned. Getting mighty frustrated. I am sticking to 2-3 gallon batches until I get his figured out. It isn't that the beer is bad. The beer is good, very good. But the beer is supposed to turn out one way and it turns out a different way. Number 15 is a very simple American Pale Ale: 5# 2-row pale malt, 1# crystal malt, 2oz. Cascade hops. It is part of the hop experiment. I also bought all the ingredients for three other hop experiments: Simcoe, Centennial, and Amarillo. I am also going to make a Chinook APA. Then I am on to a brown ale.

Blogging from My Computer

2010-03-30T22:22:00.003-05:00

Heh heh, it seems that I can blog a title from my phone, but I can't actually write any text.

So, I bottled the APA turned IPA that I brewed three weeks ago. I didn't measure my water addition, and I diluted it, so I added 1.5 lbs of Dry Malt Extract. Well, let me say, I think it will be very good.

Tomorrow I am going to New Glarus and Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I will bring back some Spotted Cow of course, and I'll see what else I can find.

Got a brown ale recipe I'm working on. Also, for you light beer drinkers, I am going to research an Ean McNulty Wheat Ale. I'm not a big fan, but I'll see how I can compromise.

Blogging from Phone

2010-03-30T08:05:00.002-05:00

3 WEEKS of Brewing!

2010-03-22T21:27:00.002-05:00

I brewed three Saturdays in a row. No less than 15 hours of brewing.

The first week I tried to brew an all-grain American Pale Ale (APA), but I messed up on my measuring, and it was too diluted, so I added a pound and a half of dry malt extract (DME) and a few more hops. That made it a partial-mash brew. So, what was going to be an APA is now going to be an IPA!

Week #2 I had three pounds of DME laying around, so I bought a couple of pounds of grain and mashed it. With the DME added I made another IPA, which was also partial-mash.

Week#3 - This past Saturday, Ian came over and we brewed an all-grain IPA with centennial hops. I did not hit an original gravity of the estimated 1.081. Instead I hit 1.061.

All three will still be excellent, but I am frustrated by things not turning out as planned. I use brewing software called Brew Smith. I have read that Brew Smith may need to be adjusted to fit my equipment. I need to read a little more about it. I really want to plan a brew and have it come out as I intend.

More later!

All-Grain Mishap

2010-03-13T17:16:00.004-06:00

Hi,

I brewed last Saturday and this Saturday! Last week I botched up an American Pale Ale. I was trying to pull off an all-grain recipe, but once again, I used too much water. I guess I thought I could eyeball the measurements. I can't. So, I was going to end up with another under-four-percent brew. I didn't want that, so Jana said I had to add some dry malt extract. I did. One and a half pounds of it. Yes, what was once going to be under 4% will now be near 7%. Woo Hoo! Go Jana. I'm not not sure if that makes it an India Pale Ale, but it is going to be nice. I also added .5oz. of Cascade Hops.

Today I did a partial mash. I mashed 2lbs of pale 2-row malt with half a pound of crystal 20L. Then I added 3 pounds of dry malt extract. I used Amarillo and Cascade hops again. This one went exactly as planned, except I forgot to take a hydrometer reading. It was suppose to have an O.G. 1.066. I think I was close to that. Should be good.

Both of these brews were only 3 gallons. I am brewing in the kitchen again! Nice and warm.

Stout Bottled

2010-02-28T10:03:00.003-06:00

Last Sunday I bottled the stout. Gave it a taste, and I think It will be excellent. I am hoping. I am going to pop one in the Fridge toady, and give it a try. I'll let you know.

I have a big idea on brewing in the kitchen in the winter. I might try to brew smaller (3 gallon) batches. I just need to figure out a better way to chill the beer quickly. I might try using a submersible pump in a sink full of ice water. Working on that today.

Assistant Tim

2010-02-13T08:24:00.005-06:00

I would just like to take the opportunity to acknowledge Tim for helping create many of the brews that have been made at Ean McNulty Brewing. It's nice to have a couple extra hands that know what needs to be done during the brewing process. Not only has Tim helped in the brewing, it was he who took some time to investigate our brand name and possible graphical ideas for our brand. Tim performed market research on the name Ean McNulty Brewing, and he was successful in convincing me that it was a better name than Black Mark Brewing.

Now, we just want to get Tim to help clean up when the brewing is over.

Today, I am racking (Transferring) the stout to the secondary fermenter. Yes, I WILL taste it!

Dry-Yeast Proofing

2010-02-10T20:46:00.006-06:00

It is the yeast that makes the beer. All I can do is create the proper conditions for the yeast to work. Yeast love sugar. They chow-down on it. It causes them to reproduce. Then their friends chow-down on it. And so on...

All that sugar can bloat a yeast. They gotta let it out. CO2 and alcohol! Yep that's all there is to it. Remember earlier I said that oxygenating the hot wort was bad? Well, it is a good thing when the wort is 70F and just before pitching the yeast. Yeast like to breathe. It is amazing how the yeast go to work in a well-aerated wort.

So, I was originally using liquid yeast. Nice product those. But they cost seven bucks a pop. Dry yeast is half to one third as much: $2-$3 dollars. I learned something. The liquid yeast packets have about 100 million yeast cells in them. A good ale wort needs about 200 million yeasts cells to get proper attenuation (the percent of wort that is fermented). That is why I was making yeast starters before. I was growing the yeast to more than 200 million yeast cells. Well, it seems that the dry yeast is already active and there are about 230 million yeast cells in the packet. All I need to do is proof the yeast. That mean to hydrate it and check that it is alive.

First, I add the yeast to a cup of 100F water for 15 minutes. That hydrates it. Then I add a teaspoon of unfermented wort for 30 minutes. If the mixture puffs up it is alive and is fermenting the tiny bit of wort. It is turning it into beer.

The stout is slowing down. I am going to rack it to the secondary fermenter on Saturday. I'll give it a taste. I will most likely bottle it the following weekend. It will be ready for the Irish Day.

Hmmm..., Irish-American Red Ale?

It was a Monster Mash!

2010-02-09T17:32:00.017-06:00

Here are some pictures of the mashing process.
I heated some water on the stove to pour into the MLT (mash/lauter tun) to preheat it before adding the grain and mash liquor (165F water).

Here is the grain in the MLT. Smells good!

After mashing the grain, I lauter (drain) it into a bucket. From the brew kettle, I pour more 168F water into the MLT to sparge (rinse) the grain. I drain that into the bucket too, and then drain all of it from the bucket to the boil kettle.

Here is the MLT after it has been drained. Yummy sticky grains!

And this is the boil. I am still doing a partial-boil, because I don't have a big enough kettle to boil all the wort. It is always better to boil all the wort.

I just checked on the stout fermenting on the stairs. it looks like creamy chocolate goodness. I can't wait!

Ean McNulty Stout

2010-02-08T17:00:00.005-06:00

On Saturday I brewed a partial-mash stout: Ean McNulty Stout. With St. Patrick's Day approaching, I thought I'd better have something brewed. Since I have already brewed an Irish Red I thought I might try a stout. I am happy to say the process went exactly as planned. I was excited to use the new MLT (mash/lauter tun) again.

This is the recipe for the stout:

3.00 lb Pilsner Liquid Extract

5.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US

1.00 lb Barley, Flaked

1.00 lb Black Barley (Stout)

1.00 oz Nugget hops [13.70 %] (60 min)

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold hops [7.50 %] (20 min)

1.00 oz Goldings, B.C. hops [4.90 %] (5 min)

0.25 t. Irish Moss (Boil 20.0 min)

SafAle American Ale (DCL Fermentis #US-05)

I know what you're a thinking, "Isn't that a lot of hops for a stout?" Yes, it is a bit more than usual, but I like hops.

I might go ahead and brew another Irish red ale, too. I mean, why not? Not everyone is going to want stout. I don't know why, though. I always want a stout..., or an Irish red..., or an American pale..., or an IPA...

2010 Ean McNulty Brewing

2010-02-07T09:42:00.008-06:00

Bienvenidos!

It is 2010 and brewing has begun. Black Mark Brewing has become Ean McNulty Brewing. Market research was performed by Tim in his web design class, and Ean McNulty Brewing was chosen as the favorite. So, there it is.

Here is a pic of the three-tier set-up:

On January 3 I brewed a partial-mash Amarillo pale ale. It was disastrous. Much like the Badjana, I took time to regoup, reread, and research, before I tackled anything else. I lost a lot of wort to the siphon, and I added too much water. The gravity (amount of sugar in the beer) was low. I estimate ABV (alcohol by volume) to be somewhere around 3.38%. Well, it sat in secondary for over three weeks. I was not optimistic about the outcome.

Here is the Amarillo recipe:

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US

0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L

3.30 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM)

1.50 oz Amarillo Gold [7.50 %] (60 min)

1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [7.50 %] (30 min)

0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [7.50 %] (15 min)

0.25 t. Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min)

SafAle American Ale (DCL Fermentis #US-05)

0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [7.50 %] (dry-hop)

We all love those Amarillo hops. Well, I bottled it Thursday, and it tasted pretty good. Who knows how this brewing things works. I will be brewing another Amarillo pale ale the correct way in the future.

More to come!

Santa Brings All-Grain Brewing!!

2009-12-30T16:09:00.010-06:00

Actually, Jay made it possible. He gave me a five gallon cooler which I converted to a mash/lauter tun.

Grain Mashing means converting the starches to sugars. By adding hot water to the grain and holding it at 155 degrees for an hour starches turn into sugar.

Lautering means draining and rinsing the grain. The sweet liquid is transferred to the boiling kettle where it is boiled for an hour according to a hopping schedule. after it is cooled the yeast can eat the sugers to create alcohol and CO2.

I'll talk more about hops in the future.

Here is a close up of the ball valve.

Inside the cooler is a braided screen that is used to filter the grain when lautering. I used a stainless steel braided water hose from Ace Hardware. I cut the ends off with a hacksaw and pulled the internal hose out. I spiraled a length of stainless steel wire using the hose as a form. After tossing the hose I inserted the spiral into the braid to give it rigidity, so it won't collapse under the weight of the grain. I plugged one end with a brass square head plug. Then I used stainless steel hose clamps to to connect the braid to the valve.

I have already planned my next brew as extract, but I may mess with it and make it a partial mash brew. We will see.

Happy New Year!

End of the 2009 Brewing Season

2009-12-27T21:39:00.002-06:00

Brewing has been completed for 2009. I feel it has been a successful year of brewing. Brews #5, #6, and #7 were the highlights. We also tried partial-mash and all-grain brewing. Thanks to Jay, I am all set to begin all-grain brewing once it gets a little warmer for me: April.

Happy New Year!

Bottled.

2009-12-19T10:36:00.003-06:00

Here is the sanitization process. Wash'em in the sink with oxygen cleaner and throw them into the dish-a-wash.

I bottled #8 partial-mash pale ale and #9 all-grain mild. It has been a week.

All-Grain Mild #9

2009-12-12T14:19:00.003-06:00

Black Mark Mild

Original Gravity - 1.026

Final Gravity - 1.006

ABV - 2.6%

Recipe:

6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
0.50 lb Crystal Malt - 20L
0.50 lb Chocolate Malt
60 min 1.00 oz Goldings
20 min 0.50 oz Goldings
SafAle English Ale Yeast S-04

Bottles

2009-12-10T22:47:00.002-06:00

Bottles and more bottles. I am happy to get some comments. Thanks to those of you who left them.

I have not had any time this week to bottle the beer. I am going to bottle both batches on Saturday. That will be it until Winter Break or even the new year. I plan on continuing with the the pale ale extract recipes, using different hops to get a sense of which ones I like. First I am going to brew one using the Amarillo hops that I used in the porter. Seems to be popular. Then I am going to use Citra hops. Citra hops are newer hops. Sierra Nevada used the entire harvest last year. They are available to home brewers for pretty much the first time. I am getting some soon, before they run out again.

All-Grain All the Time!

2009-12-05T14:20:00.003-06:00

Wellll....., not really. At least not yet.

Jack and Dan came over to help out with Black Mark's first all-grain brew. They partial-mash went so well, I thought we could do an all-grain brew with my current equipment if we tried to brew a British Mild Ale. Mild ale is usually dark brown and has a low gravity (low alcohol) and a thinner mouth feel.

I used 7 lbs. of grain in my boil pot, and that was obviously the maximum that was going to fit. We managed to brew it all, but I may have added a bit too much water to bring the fermenter up to 5.5 gallons. The original gravity ended up being 1.026. According to my estimates we should have a 2.5% ABV beer here.

Here are the numbers:

6 lbs. pale two-row malt

.5 lbs. crystal malt 20L

.5 lbs. chocolate malt 350L

1 oz. EK Goldings hops (60min)

.5 oz. EK Goldings hops (20min)

Irish moss (15min)

.5 oz. EK Goldings (0min)

SafAle s-04 English ale yeast (no starter)

I may bottle the partial mash pale ale tomorrow (Sunday). I am going to have to move the mild to the carboy in order to bottle the pale, but I may just go ahead and bottle the mild too. It is the lowest gravity beer I have ever brewed. It is probably done fermenting.

Holiday porter #7 may be the best beer to date. Tried one last week, and I am putting another in the fridge today!

Partial-mash completed!

2009-11-24T08:35:00.002-06:00

Jay came over and we mashed 6 lbs. of grain. 5 lbs. of 2-row pale malt and 1 lb. of crystal (20L). I went well. I had turn the heat up a few times, because the pot on the stove did not hold the temp. at 154. So, there was variation between 149 and 157 degrees. Not sure what that will do to the grain. I am going to need a cooler to mash in.

Since I was unhappy with the amount of porter I lost to my leaky siphon (I only had about 4 gallons left to bottle), decided to add some extra water. I was unsure of how much it would change the specific gravity, so I just threw it in to make 6 gallons. Well, it turns out that is diluted it quite a bit. Estimated Original Gravity was 1.056, and actual O.G. was 1.048. A big drop. It will still be a good beer, just not a strong as the last couple.

Jay learned some new words on Sunday. Fancy brewing words.

Lovibond = color

Sparging = rinsing

Lautering = draining

I think I had big enough equipment to brew an all-grain British mild. That is a low alcohol brown ale. I might try to keep it lighter. Hope to brew this weekend, after turkey day. Any assistants available?

Porter is Bottled

2009-11-21T14:17:00.003-06:00

Tim came over and helped me bottle the porter. Tasted pretty good. I think Jack is going to like it a lot. I am annoyed by my siphon. It leaks. I lost about a half gallon. Didn't want to take a chance aerating the beer going into the bottles. So, there isn't as much stock. But number 7 is bottled. We brew tomorrow at noon.

Here is a picture of the enormous Krausen that the Porter created.

The Big Weekend Begins!

2009-11-20T21:34:00.003-06:00

I prepared a yeast starter with Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast. It is bubbling away in the kitchen all ready for another pale ale on Sunday. I took a picture of the grain! Geeky, I know. I'll post it so everyone can see what grain looks like. Tomorrow I will bottle the porter, and Sunday I brew the partial mash pale ale. A full weekend!

I'm not stopping either. I am planning on brewing next weekend too. I have too many empty bottles!

Innovations to my Brewing Process!

2009-11-17T20:55:00.003-06:00

I am preparing to brew again. The glass carboy is empty, and the porter in the secondary fermenter will be bottled on Saturday. I suffer from fear of nothing fermenting. The process takes so long that I don't want to find myself homebrewless in January. Time to brew!

Jay mentioned that he would like to brew. I have been listening to Basic Brewing Radio podcast. I stumbled across a partial mash brewing podcast, and that, coupled with the all-grain brewing I witnessed last week started me thinking. I could actually do a partial mash with the equipment I have.

So, I started researching, re-listening to the podcast, and using my new brewing software, BrewSmith, to formulate a recipe. In keeping with my original plan of continually brewing the same style of pale ale and only changing the hops, I have come up with a recipe that uses five pounds of pale malt grain (2 row), and three ounces of simcoe hops. I was originally going to go with centennial hops, but the home brew shop didn't have any. it is no problem, because simcoe hops were in line for the next brew. The quest for the ultimate beer to be named Janahead continues.

All-Grain Brewing

2009-11-09T20:58:00.003-06:00

Sunday, I got to witness all-grain brewing. Chris from the blog The Chronicles of Nea invited me to go along with him to his friend Joe's to see Joe brew up a batch from all-grain. Let me tell you, to a brewing geek, that was really cool.

I brew from a barley extract syrup. It costs a little more, but it is much quicker than all-grain. Also, brewing from extract takes away some of the ability to manipulate the recipe. It usually takes me three hours to brew a batch of beer. All-grain pretty much doubles the time it takes.

The grain must be milled, five to ten gallons of water needs to be heated, and the grain needs to be held in the water at around 155 degrees for an hour. Then the liquid needs to be drawn off, and more water needs to be filtered through the grain to get every last bit of sugar pulled from the mash. Once the mash is complete brewing takes place pretty much the same as with extract.

Brewing can be as simple or complicated as you want it. Water additives can be used, temperatures changed, specialty grains used, and many different kinds of hops added. It looks like I may be headed down that path.

I want to thank Chris for bringing me along on Sunday, and Joe for having us.

I racked my porter to the secondary tonight, and I threw in .5oz of Amarillo hops. Dry-hopping! It is hard to do that without opening a bottle, so I did. I opened one of the #6 pale ales. Oh man! Oh man! Sorry, Tim, but it is better than #5.

I don't know what to brew next...

List of Assistants

2009-11-06T16:42:00.003-06:00

I would like to take the time now to present a list of my frequent and not so frequent assistants:

Tim

Chrissy

Mike

Jana

Dan

Jack

If you would like to witness brewing just leave me a note saying so.

I enjoy receiving comments...

OMG! Yes, I said it! OMG!

2009-11-03T21:41:00.012-06:00

I can't believe I actually made it. #5 ladies and gentlemen. #5 is amazing. I guess I am more amazed that I made it than how good it actually is. We bottled #6 last week, as you know, and on that day we tried a bottle of #5. It was still flat, unconditioned, and difficult to tell how it was going to taste. Well, the smell of #7, yes, that's right #7, fermenting on the stairs caused me to try another bottle of #5 last night. It is coming into its own. It still tastes pretty "green", but I think it may be the best beer I have ever made. I think it needs more time before I can share it, but share it I will. One more week, and you may have some. I, however, had to have another one tonight. Heh heh...

Soooooo, #7.

Jana came over early on Saturday to help me brew. You know, anyone and everyone is welcome to come see how to brew. All are welcome. Just show up on brew day. I will try to keep you updated of brew days. And, I will put you to work. Anyway, I put together a recipe for a porter.

A holiday brew. I have never really liked the beers that are flavored with fruit, pumpkin, or spices, so my holiday beer will simply be a nicely hopped porter. This is the first one. The brew went as planned. Mike showed up just in time for clean-up. I tossed in the 1500ml yeast starter and it was fermenting within 45 minutes. The porter has a high gravity, like Bad Jana, but since I used the yeast starter, I am sure it will fully ferment. I wanted to watch it, so I put it in the carboy with the blowout tube. Good thing! Foam was coming through the tube and turned the water in the bucket a nice golden brown. I love it.

Such activity! It is the yummy smell in the little bucket that caused me to try the #5. I am planning on racking it to a secondary fermenter on Sunday and then let it rest for a week or two before bottling. Then we will have it for the holiday. Here is the wort chiller in action. Oooo, look at the action! This last pic is of the tasting of the #5 that was flat. The pretty, clear beer is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The darker beer is #5. We're getting there! I will post the recipe in another post.

Bottled - #6 Pale Ale - And it tastes GOOOD!

2009-11-02T22:11:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple of photos of my refinements to the bottling system. I sanitized the bottles in the dishwasher, and then pull them and fill them on the bottle wand attached to the spigot with a short piece of hose. Works great! I also used a stopper and a short piece of racking cane (plastic tube) which I bent in boiling water so that it will siphon to the very bottom of the bucket with out having to tip it.

The #6 Pale Ale smelled so good. I did not strain or filter the beer, so I think there might be some hops floating in the beer. I think it will only be a minor nuisance; kind of like tea leaves. Anyway, it was really tasty. I thik I may have a real winner with #6. I am giving it three weeks before anyone tries it, so stay tuned.

Bottled #5 Mmm Mmmm Good!

2009-10-17T20:21:00.006-05:00

I bottled #5 last night. At first I thought it had a very malty smell. I was worried. After that Bad Jana... Anyway, I kept going. I bottled 24 12oz. and 9 22oz. bottles. It turns out that I lost some beer in earlier in the process. Only 4.5 gallons fermented, so this batch was a little smaller. I was able to have about 4oz. from the hydrometer tube and about 4oz. that didn't fill a bottle left over, so I threw it in the fridge. It was flat beer of course, but man!!! Hops! Yummy. I think I may be successful with this one. I can't wait to bottle #6 with the dry-hops in it. It should be even better. I will open one of #5 next weekend, but I don't think I will be passing any out for about three weeks. I really want them to condition well before anyone else tastes it.

I modified my bottling bucket to ease the pain of bottling. I will take pictures and post them after bottling next weekend. Hmmm, it might be time to make a second wort chiller.

Also, I am going to brew at least one more time before winter. I am not looking forward to brewing in the cold, so we might be on hiatus until April.

Racked #6

2009-10-15T20:43:00.006-05:00

Racking is the term brewers use to say they transferred the beer from one container to another container or to bottles. Racking to bottles is more frequently referred to as bottling. I did not bottle tonight. I took the #6 brew and racked it to the secondary fermenter (glass carboy), and I added 1/2 oz. of Cascade hops. That is know as dry-hopping. The recipe called for it. I'm not sure how I keep the hops from going into the bottles when I bottle this batch. This is the first time I am dry-hopping. Dry-hopping is cool. Only cool brewers dry-hop.

Tomorrow I will bottle the #5 brew. I will rack it to the bottling bucket, and then siphon it into the bottles. I am sanitizing the bottles in the dishwasher. I have the thermometer in there to see how hot it gets. It should make bottling a lot easier. When I bottled that Bad Jana it took me 3 hours 30 minutes. Ugh! Labor intensive hobby. Too bad the drinking happens too quickly.

Here are three excellent beers by Sierra Nevada. I am trying to replicate the first: pale ale. My goal is to replicate the second one day: Torpedo Extra IPA (India Pale Ale). The third is the Summerfest Lager. I will probably not ever make something like that, but Mikey really liked it. He likes Heineken and Rolling Rock, so i thought the lager was right up his alley. Go Mikey!

See you after the bottling!

Second Brew

2009-10-10T13:26:00.003-05:00

Okay, I didn't update the blog after brewing last Sunday. So, I went ahead and brewed my second version of Sierra Nevada pale ale. The yeast starter kicked in in no time, and I am optimistic. Feelin' a little sick right now, so bottling and racking will not take place for a couple of more days. Should be ready to drink in a week or two.

7lb pale malt extract

1/2 lb crystal malt grain

1oz perle hops (60min)

1oz Cascade hops (15min)

1/2 oz Cascade (0min)

1/2oz Cascade Dry hopped in secondary fermenter.

Wyeast American Ale yeast

Mas Problemas!

2009-10-03T15:23:00.005-05:00

Tried to brew a second yeast starter. The wort boiled over when I tossed in some yeast nutrient. Boiling sticky malt sugar water all over the stove. Not having much luck here!

Hay Problema!

2009-10-03T07:55:00.002-05:00

Racked the beer to the secondary fermenter last night. No bubbles. Made a yeast starter. No activity - no bubbles. How will I brew tomorrow?

Yuck!!!

2009-09-30T20:45:00.003-05:00

Here is the fermenting pale ale in the carboy. Look at that nastiness! I am a little concerned that there seems to be so much. I think I will rack to a bucket on Saturday and let it mature for another week; then, to the bottles!

I have already received my ingredients for the next batch. If you recall, I am brewing a different version of the same Sierra Nevada pale ale. It might be slightly stronger, but a little less hoppy. Of course, I haven't tasted either yet, and I am only going on the ratios of the ingredients. I might brew again this weekend. Anyone interested in seeing how to brew beer?

Big News!

2009-09-26T17:16:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's right! Big news today. Not only was this a brew day, but some old equipment was made new, some new equipment worked successfully, and the hops smelled awesome! Brew #5 is in the fermenter. Here is the recipe:

6.6lb Breiss Golden Light LME

1lb crystal malt (grain)

1oz Perle hops (60 min)

1oz Cascade hops (15 min)

2oz Cascade (5 min)

White Labs American Ale yeast

This is a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone recipe I found online. I was very simple and straightforward.

So, one piece of new equipment is my glass carboy. This is where the beer will ferment. It is a little more difficult to deal with compared to the bucket, but it is easier to sanitize. So, instead of an airlock, I have affixed a tube to the carboy with the other end in a bucket of sanitizer. This way, if the

the form gets to great it can escape to the bucket instead of blowing out the airlock.

This is my new Erlenmeyer flask which I used to make a yeast starter. A yeast starter helps the yeast multiply to billions and billions of cells. It kicks in the fermentation a lot faster, and hopefully it will allow the brew to reach terminal gravity. Yep! That's right. We don't want another repeat of Bad Janahead.

I was able to fix the leaky wort chiller. Jeff recommended I just used a second clamp on each fitting, and it worked. Thanks, Jeff.

So, after all that, the brew is happily fermenting only one hour after pitching the yeast. Janahead took two days to begin. I will keep you informed.

Calling All Bottles!

2009-09-13T10:46:00.003-05:00

I will need to get some bottles back within the next 2-3 weeks. Here is a picture of a wood six-pack made by a friend of CC. It holds Fat Tire 12 oz. bottles. Nice!

Number 5 - Second Janahead Prototype Ready To Go

2009-09-13T10:24:00.007-05:00

Hello! I have purchased the ingedients for the next ale. I tried out the shop in St. Charles. Pretty expensive. Any way, you know I am going with a recipe that has been tried. I found it online on a message baord where many of the brewers said it was very good. This is the beginning of a series of beers that will become the true Janahead ale. If this beer proves to be as good as they say, I will begin making adjustments to the recipes to find the true Janahead flavor. This first batch will be a basic American pale ale (Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone), and I am trying to reach a beer that is a bit stronger than that. But not too much. Here are the ingedients.6.6 lbs light malt extract

1 lb. crystal malt (streeped)

1 oz. Pearle hops (7.5%)

3 oz. Cascade hops (7.5%)

White Labs American Ale Yeast

Irish moss

Pretty simple as you can see. The next batch will be the SN pale ale kit from Austin Homebrew

Supply. LME is 8 lbs. as opposed to 6.6 in this recipe, and crystal malt is .5 lbs, as opposed to 1 lb. in this recipe. Here is a picture of the ingedients.

Janahead Postponed!

2009-09-04T20:50:00.003-05:00

I opened a bottle of Janahead Strong Ale tonight after one week and two days of bottle conditioning. It seems that one week and two days is not enough time for the yeast to do its work. It had a little carbonation and a little sediment, but it was nearly flat. Also, there is no discernable hop character. I am officially done making up recipes for the time being. I need to practice with some well worn recipes. I guess I said that before. Stay tuned!!!

Janahead Strong Ale Bottled!

2009-08-25T21:15:00.002-05:00

Whoa! A four hour ordeal to bottle the Janahead. My bottles were being stored in the basement, so I thought I'd better clean them again. Then I had to sanitize the bottles, so it was like doing it twice. Also, I was taking my sweet time: had a #3 Mikey Irish ale and a #2 Brown (really a porter) ale. Yum! They are really good. I still don't know why that kit beer won the poll.

Big News! Yes, I bottled about sixteen 12oz. bottles of Janahead. I used Guiness Extra Stout bottles. They are a nice size. I have been slowing drinking the Guiness over the past couple of weeks to get those bottles. I have to suffer for my art! So, overall, I bottled 16 big bottles and 16 small bottles. I hope that pleases my customers. (By the way, if you plan on having me over to your house for any reason, I would like Guiness Extra Stout, and I take the bottles with me. Just a suggestion.)

Well? How was it? Yes, it looked nice. Golden, bordering on redish. Tasted pretty good too. The final gravity was 1.020. I was hoping for 1.015-1.010. My ABV is 5% again. You know I was shooting for close to 6%. I don't know how to do that, I guess. Anyway, I'm happy with the results of Janahead so far. We drink in two weeks.

Next beer. I am going to go with a recipe and brew exactly as specified. Two reasons why I am not just making my own recipe. My recipes did not win the poll. I would like to brew a higher ABV ale. You know, when you think about it, these guys are brewing for a long time. They try batches and batches. They know what a good beer is. Why not use one of theirs? Done. I hope to brew soon. Stay tuned!

The Votes Are In!

2009-08-17T19:14:00.004-05:00

The votes are in. Red ale won the poll. Ten people voted. Red ale had 40% of the vote. Brown and Irish ale were tied with 30% each. I have to say I am a little disappointed. The red ale was a kit. That means I added nothing to it. I bought a box of ingredients and brewed it. The brown and Irish ales were recipes that I adapted from other recipes. My next beer will follow a recipe exactly from How to Brew by John Palmer. Oh well.

Strong Pale Ale

2009-08-16T16:50:00.004-05:00

I guess what I have made is a strong pale ale. After researching a bit, it seems that my hop content cannot make it an India pale ale. I did not use a lot of hops. However, I did use a lot of malt extract: 8 lbs. I also used 1 lb of crystal grain, and that is twice as much as I have seen in most pale ale recipes. I'll call it strong ale.

Name. Tim thinks I should be naming my recipes, for example, "Old Guy Ale" or "Fat Guy Ale." I suppose he has a good idea, but I don't know if I can come up with good names. Anyway, I decided to name the third brew Mikey Irish Ale in honor of its inspiration. Mike wanted me to make an ale like Caffrey's. I am thinking of naming the fourth brew Janahead Strong Ale.

Here is a picture of my propane burner I used to

brew the fourth beer, and here is also a picture of my new labeling system. As you can see I have added another piece of blue tape with the words Blue Tape on it. Blue Tape Brewing! Okay, then, one more

week of Janahead in the fermenter, then two weeks in bottles

What shall I brew next?

Stronger Ale #4

2009-08-04T15:50:00.006-05:00

On July 25, 2009, Jack and I brewed a stronger ale. I don't know if it is a pale ale, a bitter, a special bitter, or what. I will research it more and catagorize it later. First we made the immersion chiller. Here it is.

So, I was given a propane burner from

my nephew. He's a great nephew! Actually, his son is a great nephew, he is a kind nephew. Anyway, the burner boiled that wort fast! BTU's, baby! We had to move the brewery to the garage. I need to rethink how the garage can be more efficient. CC liked not having the house stink. Her words, not mine. I like the smell of brewing beer. Other than the complication of trying to use the kitchen to sanitize and the garage to brew, everything seemed to come out okay. the ale is currently in the secondary fermenter with about two weeks before I bottle.

Stronger Ale #4

8lb pale LME

1lb crystal grain

.5oz nugget hops 12% (60m)

.75oz East Kent Goldings 5% (30m)

1/2t Irish moss (25m)

.75 EKG 5% (5min)

Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast

OG 1.058

This is the second

2009-08-03T16:07:00.004-05:00

Actually, this isn't the second. I was going to take some pictures of my dad and I making beer in the garage, but I forgot to do that.

I made a wort chiller. I wanted to take some pictures of that to show you, but I never got around to it.

I also wanted to write about the fourth beer we made, but honestly, I don't feel like it right now. I will get back to it. I tried to make a pale ale or a strong ale.

I don't even know.

Okay two posts coming up - This is the first.

2009-07-31T21:18:00.007-05:00

I tasted the Irish ale tonight (more than one). It is excellent, however there are some cidery tones that I do not like. The problem is that I am not experienced enough to know whether it is from sugar (priming) or bacteria. I have been extremely diligent with sanitation, but I guess I cannot be everywhere.

FG is 1.015, so ABV s/b 5%

The ale was supposed to be a Caffrey's-like. Don't have a kegging system, so it can only be so close. Anyway, the beer is creamy. Very creamy. I am going to have to reproduce the beer in the future. I want to do it right. So, there it is. My third beer. It's very good. If you would like some send me a comment.

Number Four - Pale Ale

2009-07-24T20:19:00.004-05:00

My fourth beer will be brewed tomorrow. I am attempting to make a pale ale, but I want it to have a little kick. I'm not sure if it will be considered an IPA or a strong ale or what. I don't know. I will post soon. The Irish ale is resting, waiting... To be opened next Saturday.

I think I am on to something...

2009-07-18T11:11:00.004-05:00

No, this is not a picture of the beer I just bottled. But it is a picture of a glass of beer. I was seeing how the blog looks with a picture added. Nice!

So, we bottled the Irish ale last night. Final gravity of 1.015. If I'm figuring right I think ABV is about 5%. Slowly that number is creeping up. It tasted really good, too! Sort of sweet, but Caffrey's is a sweet beer. I think Mike will be happy with this one.

Everyone is complaining about the 22oz. bottles. "It's too big." Geez. Okay, I am going to get some smaller bottles for the wimps out there. Okay, then, two weeks and we will have some Irish ale to drink.

Irish Ale

2009-07-04T12:55:00.004-05:00

We brewed an Irish ale last Monday. Mike wanted a Caffrey's ale, so I found a clone for all-grain. But I don't brew all-grain yet. So, I just made it up. We'll see what happens with it. Here is what I did:
7lb pale malt extract
.5lb caramunich
.5lb torrefied wheat (I couldn't find torrefied barley, so what the hell!)
.1lb chocolate
1oz Northen brewer hops @ boil
.5oz Kent Goldings hops @ boil
Irish Ale yeast #WLP004
OG-1.053
Nothing happened for the first day. I nearly panicked, but all the online sites said not to panic. They said to wait for up to 72 hours. I shook the fermenter for a minute or two and just left it. By Wednesday it was bubbling away. It was actually bubbling fast than the other two batches. I am getting ready to rack it to the secondary fermenter tomorrow.

Brown Ale is officially ready for tasters!

2009-06-26T13:29:00.006-05:00

I thought it might taste a little too burnt, but actually it is quite mild and very smooth. I think a few more days in the bottles will help. We drank two of them. It is definitely a better brew than the red ale, with out any "home brew" tang. Looking forward to brewing am Irish ale next week. Should have enough bottles by the time fermentation is complete.

FG=1.012

ABV=4.3%

Second Brew

2009-06-02T21:18:00.010-05:00

Last Thursday I brewed my second beer. It is a brown ale. I wanted stronger flavor, so I upped amount of malt. I also used amber malt extract instead of light. I read about using a secondary fermenter, so I planned on racking as soon as the primary bubbling commotion subsided. Everything went as planned, but I need to find a better way to cool my wort. Perhaps a chiller in the future. I cooled in an ice water bath It took a while. I pitched the yeast, and it happily bubbled away until Monday when I racked it to the second bucket. It tasted pretty good too! I am excited.
Here is the recipe:
2 cans 3.3lbs. Munton's amber malt extract
1/4lb. black malt
1/4lb. chocolate malt
2oz. goldings @ boil
Irish moss @ 40 min.
1oz. Willamette @ 55 min.
End @ 1 hour

I am waiting a week and a half before I bottle.

OG=1.045

First Brew

2009-06-02T21:12:00.008-05:00

My first brew was a kit red ale. I though it was weak, everyone seemed to like it. It had grea color, no off-flavors, and it wasn't too bubbly - nice head. Actually, I used 22oz. bottles, and it is all gone except for one bottle I kept to try next year.
I only used a primary fermenter and only for one week. Then I bottled it. That was less than three weeks ago, and it is all gone. I will try my own concoction next with a little more malt extract and grains.

OG=1.042

FG=1.008

ABV=4.5%