tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45983603193430784752024-03-14T01:14:37.154-07:00FED BY FERMENTATION
Zephyr Fermented Beverages - Monarch Bear BrewingAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-82040879923621497992015-01-16T23:47:00.002-08:002015-01-17T00:12:45.805-08:00MB2015.1 - Sweaty Bretty Petite Redux My Brother is getting married in a few months and I am providing a few beers for the big event. I brewed a saison (and a couple other beers) for a wedding a few years ago, so it seemed fitting to resurrect that recipe.The goal of this recipe is to be a table beer -- approachable and light for quaffing in quantity, yet flavorful and interesting for pairing with food.<br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10390397_10205086312189214_4770804226814711480_n.jpg?oh=33926d7a5a3033e7177608b0d1580d03&oe=552976E4&__gda__=1429458930_6243cd0da6d62e023c2ac3a614745d49" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10390397_10205086312189214_4770804226814711480_n.jpg?oh=33926d7a5a3033e7177608b0d1580d03&oe=552976E4&__gda__=1429458930_6243cd0da6d62e023c2ac3a614745d49" width="640" /></a></div>
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The grain-bill is pretty straightforward and standard because the yeast will be the real star of this beer. For hops I chose Palisade and Sterling partly because I had them on hand, but also because I wanted a bit of a grassy and spicy character. The hop additions are all in the last 20 minutes of the boil to push their aromatics, and I anticipate the bitterness to be a bit higher than calculated below.<br />
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Although not in the recipe below, I will be adding Brett C. after primary fermentation. I'll write another post when this time comes, but I am planning to try a bit of an experiment with a home-made grundy valve, where 5 gallons will be "brett-ed" in a keg pressurized to 7 psi or so, while the other 5 will be secondaried without pressure. I'm curious to see how the pressurized environment effects the character of the Brett.<br />
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This was the first brew on the revamped system, and aside from forgetting to filter my tap water the day went smoothly. It was a long brew day, mostly because I am still figuring out the rhythm of the new set-up (but also because I was pretty hungover from the employee bottle-share party at The Rare Barrel last night). I'm stoked that my new chilling system worked well, and anticipate ironing out the kinks in the entire system before the next brew day. (I'll write up a separate post on the chilling system soon.)<br />
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I do hope that the chloramines in the city water don't impact the final
product too much; When living in Albany NY I had to dump some batches
because of a band-aid taste--I traced the problem back to the city
water, and switched to reverse-osmosis to prevent future problems. While
in Albany I could taste the chloramines in the tap-water, here in
Oakland I drink directly from the tap and don't taste any chlorine or other chemicals at all.<br />
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Recipe Specifications<br />
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Boil Size: 13.68 gal<br />
Post Boil Volume: 12.48 gal<br />
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal <br />
Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal<br />
Estimated OG: 1.045 SG<br />
Estimated Color: 4.4 SRM<br />
Estimated IBU: 20.9 IBUs<br />
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %<br />
Est Mash Efficiency: 76.4 %<br />
Boil Time: 90 Minutes<br />
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Ingredients:<br />
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU <br />
4.0 oz Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 1 1.3 % <br />
13 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 67.5 % <br />
3 lbs Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM) Grain 3 15.6 % <br />
3 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 15.6 % <br />
2.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 5 15.7 IBUs <br />
1.00 oz Palisade [7.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 6 2.6 IBUs <br />
1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 7 2.6 IBUs <br />
1.00 oz Palisade [7.50 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 Hop 8 0.0 IBUs <br />
1.00 oz Sterling [7.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 9 0.0 IBUs <br />
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 Yeast 10 - <br />
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Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge<br />
Total Grain Weight: 19 lbs 4.0 oz<br />
----------------------------<br />
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time <br />
Mash In Add 28.06 qt of water at 155.2 F 145.0 F 75 min <br />
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Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (2.63gal, 7.34gal) of 168.0 F water<br />
Notes:<br />
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2015.01.14 - Made 1.031 starter wort<br />
<br />
According to http://yeastcalculator.com/, with 1.031 wort and a 2L stirplate starter, I will need an additional 2L unstirred starter to get to the correct pitcing rate. Alternatively, I could make a single 2.5L stirplate starter.<br />
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2015.01.16 - Brew Day:<br />
- Pitched Wyeast 3711 packet into 2L 1.031 starter wort in morning. Added to leftover quart of wort from brew at 11 PM. Will split and pitch into carboys tomorrow.<br />
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12:50 - Lit MT burner to bring water to temp.<br />
1:33 - Mashed in at 155º (per Beersmith). Mash stabilized at 149º -- 4º too high.<br />
1:43 - Mash at 147º. pH = 5.3 (corrected from 5.0 reading on colorpHast strips).<br />
2:56 - Runoff to kettle. Add sparge water.<br />
3:39 - Preboil gravity = 10º plato. Volume = 13.9 gallons (1 1/4 gallons left in MT -- adjust Beersmith profile!)<br />
4:15 - Boil.<br />
5:26 - 20 min. hop addition. Gravity at 1.046.<br />
5:46 - Flameout.<br />
5:50 - Wort chilled to 165º. Hopstand.<br />
6:10 - Resume chilling.<br />
6:45 - All chilling solution transferred. Wort at 73.5º 1.048 gravity. <br />
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Music: Wilco, Ween, White Denim, Sturgill Simpson.<br />
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Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com<br />
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-15127417316672470132015-01-12T00:14:00.000-08:002015-01-12T00:15:52.686-08:00The 2014-2015 Newness: Home Brewery System Updates, Monarch Bear...2014 (<a href="http://enchantingtheday.blogspot.com/2014/01/not-just-any-year-of-horse-yang-wood.html" target="_blank">the year of the Yang Wood Horse</a>, no less) was an amazing year, but I didn't spend a lot of time in the homebrewery, only clocking 5 brews for all of 2014. In the time since I last updated this blog (February 2014), I have:<br />
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- Moved across the country from Albany, NY to amazing Oakland, CA.<br />
- Traveled back across the country on a 5-week national tour as a stage assistant for <a href="http://brettdennen.net/" target="_blank">Brett Dennen.</a><br />
- Completed a draft of my entire doctoral dissertation. (I'll be a doctor by May!)<br />
- Landed a job as a Production Assistant at <a href="http://www.therarebarrel.com/" target="_blank">The Rare Barrel</a>, an all-sour brewery in Berkeley, CA.<br />
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I sincerely tried to get rid of a bunch of homebrewery stuff when we moved from New York to California, although you wouldn't know it now. I did sell all my grain, a few corny and one sanke keg, and my grain mill stand and hopper (this last was a toughie).<br />
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I also vowed to update the Wittbrew system, which was previously called the "5000." I'll call the new iteration the "Wittbrew 5500," for no other reason than it seems a logical procession. Here's a brief photo-essay on the current system, starting with what it looked like when I left Albany:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52I1RAo_T2OsXoqoDE5KxhemopBQYu-88zVzRUaKawPJpPzxcaTKKiqyC4WNhyphenhyphen8xiXfYWygw3HH9r_01OURGsx4GlbWKHerzIuneAL4ffItmfbEWsdAYxDARiw2qk_Ne5VAY4lZwXZOE/s1600/3+brewstand.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg52I1RAo_T2OsXoqoDE5KxhemopBQYu-88zVzRUaKawPJpPzxcaTKKiqyC4WNhyphenhyphen8xiXfYWygw3HH9r_01OURGsx4GlbWKHerzIuneAL4ffItmfbEWsdAYxDARiw2qk_Ne5VAY4lZwXZOE/s1600/3+brewstand.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the Wittbrew 5000 as it was before breaking it down and moving it across the country (for the second time). It was constructed as a gravity-fed system, although I later added a pump, making it a direct-fired RIMS. I've been wanting to convert it to a single or double-tier system for a few years now.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxnnN0WQ4DxEYJEAytW6oiBBs058fDtJdb_-cpiTsKVCvfLPVQPnSWg95LSAW3tK-ipNx1mlwtOUS2w69Ir8pKCpepjL5kZKMmRAcZnqutBdPVS7uFjiestOtVAGWFuUjSMosjATsN4U/s1600/image3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxnnN0WQ4DxEYJEAytW6oiBBs058fDtJdb_-cpiTsKVCvfLPVQPnSWg95LSAW3tK-ipNx1mlwtOUS2w69Ir8pKCpepjL5kZKMmRAcZnqutBdPVS7uFjiestOtVAGWFuUjSMosjATsN4U/s1600/image3.jpeg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the new system, the Wittbrew 5500. It is still a direct-fired RIMS with a single pump. In addition to having some welding done for the reconfiguration, I also replaced all my brass qds with stainless <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camlock_%28fluid_fitting%29" target="_blank">camlocks</a>, and replaced my really old silicone hoses too. I use the blue 55-gallon drums and a submersible pump to capture and reuse my chiller water (actually Star-San), eliminating any waste water from knockout. (<a href="http://www.cadrought.com/" target="_blank">We're in a severe drought in California.</a>) They also come in handy for sanitizing things in the brewery.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMGRIecRwOSPFwZddrMSWfg639_k6L7cNmYfoLPP3LdLgdVkr_ubAFnFIIPtQ6jNDbJaYhPGxo04i-kW3HBCvi4ydYSCPtcY4nBIGaxCwgRsU6cSD2GZYy30b7laCKBWHd8T1tjKWZevI/s1600/image8.jpeg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;" width="240">The Hot-Liquor Tank (HLT), on the far right of the brew sculpture. No bells and whistles here. There is an old 1/8" sightglass port that I temporarily blocked with a stainless bolt and bulkhead.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILTrL01i3h_OuVayiDvSqwi47ezPUDuG6wXdr0wPWH5tlZFDEuCvJjCAjYWP1gqSKE8WxgqYcxNQ3uDZ99s07_F2by0gRSmvtAY61-2HssscAsbGQrCUN7NzojihZEfQznrsghvHtT6s/s1600/image9.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhILTrL01i3h_OuVayiDvSqwi47ezPUDuG6wXdr0wPWH5tlZFDEuCvJjCAjYWP1gqSKE8WxgqYcxNQ3uDZ99s07_F2by0gRSmvtAY61-2HssscAsbGQrCUN7NzojihZEfQznrsghvHtT6s/s1600/image9.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The interior of the HLT.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IpBU8EvFL-0h83OhpSWCFtrxvdIGRDA2mV-Gxb2V4SifhIYAcsiAKCCC5fkA9L2gVu9TTnVIIgJUZMUj907dVPDbxGGZkWqW4I6mFJPFGxz1RC060p1QK7qVyARxzthEA0qc7NAWygQ/s1600/image4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_IpBU8EvFL-0h83OhpSWCFtrxvdIGRDA2mV-Gxb2V4SifhIYAcsiAKCCC5fkA9L2gVu9TTnVIIgJUZMUj907dVPDbxGGZkWqW4I6mFJPFGxz1RC060p1QK7qVyARxzthEA0qc7NAWygQ/s1600/image4.jpeg" height="640" width="516" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The
Mash Tun (MT), on the far left of the sculpture. It has a burner
underneath and recirculates the mash using a pump, mounted below. I've
been using this "direct fired" technique for years and have never
scorched the mash.</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEn9XT_NdRlCsO1Bh6M9zNQQUm-XTTvFZK8BHaJW4s4KiF5P6pWmnQg0qWu3f-6jL2SsAhfb0qrCTqMenFC8OghV-qtypNBruvlFk37F7x1iznDm3L6i9zbomNZ0gZnx4DPPZvPpzig8/s1600/image5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHEn9XT_NdRlCsO1Bh6M9zNQQUm-XTTvFZK8BHaJW4s4KiF5P6pWmnQg0qWu3f-6jL2SsAhfb0qrCTqMenFC8OghV-qtypNBruvlFk37F7x1iznDm3L6i9zbomNZ0gZnx4DPPZvPpzig8/s1600/image5.jpeg" height="528" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is the interior of the Mash Tun. You can see the Sabco hinged false-bottom and copper pickup tube, as well as the mash return arm on the top right of the keggle. I'll slip a length of silicone hose on the copper return arm to gently return the mash liquor onto the top of the grainbed. It works really well.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvs5S7TuEVJNH8njYkXeZkCWGsgLCIiUe5Jfr4S287xehVJNNQk-dHiQmtKDh4LRaUug2trP-gm4JKUx04cL7oSWufEEaTTM8QWlNRdlDknkXyRU_3-6AjLGrczHdZ_Pho_RT_k-wnbM/s1600/image6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuvs5S7TuEVJNH8njYkXeZkCWGsgLCIiUe5Jfr4S287xehVJNNQk-dHiQmtKDh4LRaUug2trP-gm4JKUx04cL7oSWufEEaTTM8QWlNRdlDknkXyRU_3-6AjLGrczHdZ_Pho_RT_k-wnbM/s1600/image6.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;" width="240">A blurry pic of the Boil Kettle (BK). I'll try to remember to snap another one soon. The valve on the left is for the whirlpool recirculation, used to speed up knockout times.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTCZXXtJ9LIOBzdEcPwf29djifO3m0QId-4RHJKyMlIx4fWYKTCiC4ic2PrvcGvo2G8rBT_PWWPQ0vt9DGplTJqIcmX_5AF5NIx7gi106IlV7r3SLTUw5ZgR-G07QJxKeiodR-SomTv0/s1600/image7.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkTCZXXtJ9LIOBzdEcPwf29djifO3m0QId-4RHJKyMlIx4fWYKTCiC4ic2PrvcGvo2G8rBT_PWWPQ0vt9DGplTJqIcmX_5AF5NIx7gi106IlV7r3SLTUw5ZgR-G07QJxKeiodR-SomTv0/s1600/image7.jpeg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;" width="240">Here's the interior of the Boil Kettle. The pickup tube is made of copper fittings (a NPT-female, a 90º corner, and a 45º corner) curves back to the edge of the kettle just underneath the outlet valve to allow any hot-break or hop residue to settle in the center of the kettle.</td></tr>
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Friends in Albany knew my homebrewery variously as "Zephyr Brewing" (a name now claimed by an unrelated commercial brewery in Denver) and "Monarch Bear Brewery" -- a reference to a 1200 pound California grizzly bear (one of the last in the state) captured and put on display in Golden Gate Park by associates of William Randolph Hearst. The story of Monarch is in my mind a parallel to California itself, whose emblematic and essential wildness has been captured, annulled, and forgotten in tragic ways. With the move back to California I feel justified naming the homebrewery after the iconic Monarch Bear.Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-53117140262072405232014-02-06T08:26:00.000-08:002014-02-06T08:26:59.408-08:00Sweaty Bretty Rye - Brett Rye SaisonI was a bit disappointed in my last saison experiment (in December, no associated blog entry). I believe the carafa II that I used threw some "nutty" notes into the
beer, and it turned out an ugly brown. Not what I was going for. (The
brett C portion tastes promising though.)<br />
<br />
Recent failure in mind, I thought I'd brew up a replacement batch that was more in line with successful past batches. I wanted to make it peppery, but with a soft mouthfeel (I'm targeting something similar to one of my favorite saisons, <a href="http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/logsdon-seizoen-bretta/143868/" target="_blank">Logsdon's Seizoen Bretta</a>). For the pepper and mouthfeel I used 15% each of wheat and rye in the grainbill. <br />
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I also wanted to try blending a few strains of yeast for primary. I grew starters for WY 3711, Lallemand's Belle Saison, and <a href="http://bootlegbiology.com/available-yeast/bugs-blends/funky-saison/" target="_blank">Bootleg Bio's Funky Saison</a> (I used the BBio on a <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2013/08/20130818-sweaty-bretty-petite.html" target="_blank">saison I brewed back in August</a>). I blended the dregs together in a growler and let them settle, then pitched about 150 mls of the slurry into the oxigenated wort. I plan to rack this onto brett cultivated from a bottle of Logsdon's Seizon Bretta (which is a unique strain, <a href="http://embracethefunk.com/2012/05/18/dave-logsdon-of-logsdon-farmhouse-ales-qa/" target="_blank">according to Dave Logsdon</a>), provided I can get some growth. Right now the dregs are sitting still under ~25 mls of wort.<br />
<br />
Here's the recipe and notes. I'll add more as this brew progresses.<br />
<br />
Sweaty Bretty Rye Saison<br />
Type: All Grain Date: 04 Feb 2014<br />
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal Brewer: Aaron<br />
Boil Size: 7.70 gal Asst Brewer: Steve<br />
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: Wittbrew 5000 (5 Gal/37.8 L) - All Grain<br />
End of Boil Volume 6.50 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 67.00 %<br />
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 76.1 %<br />
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0<br />
Taste Notes:<br />
Ingredients<br />
<br />
Ingredients<br />
Amt Name <br />
1 lbs Rice Hulls (0.0 SRM) 7.7 %<br />
7 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) 53.8 %<br />
2 lbs Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) 15.4 %<br />
2 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) 15.4 %<br />
8.0 oz Acidulated (Weyermann) 3.8 % (added at end of mash)<br />
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) 3.8 %<br />
0.45 oz Nugget [12.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min 14.4 IBUs<br />
1.00 oz Sterling [7.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min 8.7 IBUs<br />
1.00 oz Sterling [7.40 %] - Boil 5.0 min 4.8 IBUs<br />
1.00 oz Sterling [7.40 %] - Whirlpool 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs<br />
Blended slurry: <br />
Belle Saison (Lallemand #Belle Saison) <br />
French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) <br />
Funky Saison (Bootleg Biology #)<br />
<br />
Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.056 SG<br />
Est Final Gravity: 1.002 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.0-- SG<br />
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 % <br />
Bitterness: 27.9 IBUs Calories: 187.2 kcal/12oz<br />
Est Color: 5.4 SRM <br />
<br />
Mash Profile<br />
Mash In Add 23.50 qt of water at 154.6 F 147.0 F 75 min<br />
Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 4.38gal) of 168.0 F water<br />
<br />
Notes<br />
Modified recipe from 3/2/2013. Dropped OG a bit. Added Rye. Removed vienna. Changed hops.<br />
<br />
- Tried to blend Bootleg Bio's Funky Saison with Belle Saison with Wyeast 3711.<br />
-->3711 MFG date of June 2013. --> 1L starter.<br />
frozen Funky Saison --> 200 ml starter --> 1.5 L starter.<br />
Belle Saison slurry --> 2L starter.<br />
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Dropped all three, blended for ~175 ml pitch.<br />
<br />
Brew Day:<br />
3:40 - Nailed mash temp @ 147º<br />
3:50 - pH of ~5.2 as read on colorpHast. Wanted 5.4, with the .3 correction its about right. (I really need to get a meter...)<br />
3:55 - Changed music from Jason Isbell to Charles Bradley station to instill more funk and soul into beer.<br />
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4:42 - Added aciduated malt. Begin raising temp for mashout.<br />
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5:20 - First runnings: 1.073 (17.8º P), 3.5 gallons.<br />
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5:35 - Added sparge salts to kettle. (Acid was added to sparge water)<br />
5:45 - Preboil: 1.048 (12 ºP), 7.7 gallons (efficiency high b/c of running rye+wheat through mill 3x?)<br />
5:50 - Boil<br />
7:10 - Flameout (Boiled hard for 80 mins -- time restraint)<br />
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Ended up with ~5.1 gallons of 1.056 wort. Topped up with .4 gallons of water. <br />
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2/6 - Aerated wort and pitched ~150-200 mls of blended slurry (3711, Belle Saison, BBio Funky Saison). Temp at 72.5ºF.<br />
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<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-44040149921065521992014-02-04T13:51:00.001-08:002014-02-06T07:58:42.564-08:00Requested Recipe: Little Heater Brett StoutI've had a few requests for this recipe, so I thought I'd publish it here. It took first in the Belgian Specialty Ale category at Knickerbocker Battle of the Brews in November, and is a great winter beer. Funny thing is this was a "clean out my grain stash" beer, where I tossed a bunch of random stuff together...<br />
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<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
I used only the first runnings to make the Little Heater, so do whatever you want with the second runnings. (I used them for a Flanders Bruin that I don't really like...) The first runnings were 1.092 after boiling.<br />
<br />
Recipe: Little Heater Brett Stout TYPE: All Grain<br />
Style: Imperial Stout (Belgian Specialty Ale)<br />
<br />
---RECIPE SPECIFICATIONS-----------------------------------------------<br />
SRM: 30.4 SRM SRM RANGE: 30.0-40.0 SRM<br />
IBU: 69.6 IBUs Tinseth IBU RANGE: 50.0-90.0 IBUs<br />
OG: 1.066 SG OG RANGE: 1.075-1.115 SG<br />
FG: 1.020 SG FG RANGE: 1.018-1.030 SG<br />
BU:GU: 1.057 Calories: 319.5 kcal/12oz Est ABV: 6.1 % <br />
EE%: 67.00 % Batch: 11.00 gal Boil: 13.42 gal BT: 90 Mins<br />
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Total Grain Weight: 29 lbs 4.9 oz Total Hops: 2.50 oz oz.<br />
<br />
---MASH/STEEP PROCESS------MASH PH:5.40 ------<br />
>>>>>>>>>>-ADD WATER CHEMICALS BEFORE GRAINS!!<<<<<<<<br />
Amt Name Type # %/IBU <br />
13 lbs 4.8 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (Bairds) (3.0 45.4 % <br />
11 lbs 1.6 oz Munich Malt (7.0 SRM) 37.9 % <br />
1 lbs 4.6 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) 4.4 % <br />
12.0 oz Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) 2.6 % <br />
11.6 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) 2.5 % <br />
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) 1.7 % <br />
8.0 oz Pale Chocolate Malt (215.0 SRM) 1.7 % <br />
7.2 oz Kiln Coffee Malt (175.0 SRM) 1.5 % <br />
7.0 oz Carafa Special I (Weyermann) (320.0 SRM) 1.5 % <br />
4.0 oz Black Malt (Thomas Fawcett) (660.0 SRM) 0.9 % <br />
<br />
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time <br />
Mash In Add 40.63 qt of water at 167.0 F 156.0 F 45 min <br />
<br />
---SPARGE PROCESS---<br />
Fly sparge with 7.78 gal water at 168.0 F (I only used 1st runnings for Brett Stout!!)<br />
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<br />
---BOIL PROCESS-----------------------------<br />
Est Pre_Boil Gravity: 1.058 SG Est OG: 1.066 SG<br />
Amt Name Type # %/IBU <br />
2.50 oz Apollo [18.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 11 69.6 IBUs<br />
<br />
---NOTES------------------------------------<br />
Partigyle…1st runnings = Brett Impy Stout<br />
2nd Runnings = soured Oud Bruin? (Roselaire + Flemish Ale blend.)<br />
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First runnings: [Targeting 7.7 gallons first runnings -- ~1.088+ wort; some calculation wrong somewhere…]<br />
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First Runnings:<br />
Mash at 154º with 11 gallons water.<br />
Add 5g chalk, 4g Gypsum, 1.5g calcium chloride, 7.5g baking soda (.5g baking soda to adjust after pH reading came in at 5.4ish)<br />
1.071 @ 30 minutes.<br />
Drain to HLT 5:32 PM<br />
7 gallons of 1.077 wort = <br />
Boil at 6:00; added hops @ 6:05 (2.5 oz. apollo)<br />
6:45 Chiller in, switch pump to recirc bk.<br />
7:05 flameout; 80º @ 7:18 PM; 70º @ 7:23 (Drain to carboy)<br />
1.093 wort, approx 5.5 gallons<br />
Pitched approx 800 ml thin slurry of Brett Trois at 10 AM 4/23/2013.<br />
4/30/2013 - Moved Dark Trois portion upstairs into bathroom to increase temperature. Gravity at ~1.030 (~65% attenuation)<br />
5/23/2013 - Dark Trois @ 1.022 (74.7% attenuation; 9.4% abv)<br />
6/3/2013 - down to ~1.017; 10% ABV<br />
<br />
Second runnings:<br />
Cap mash with 4 lb. GW 2 Row; 12 oz. C60º; 4 oz. Special B; 6 oz. special roast malt.<br />
Underlet grain bed.<br />
Mash @ 1.043 (w/ added malts)<br />
7:39 PM drain to kettle. Add 1.2 oz. Uncle Johns Hops<br />
8:07 PM Boil<br />
9:12 PM Flameout. Begin chilling. 9:27 @ 70 º F<br />
1.053 wort ~ 5 gallons total.<br />
Pitched yeast at 10 PM 4/22/2013. Approx 20 ml slurry blend of WYeast Roselaire and WL Flemish Ale <br />
6/2/2013 - added dregs from 2013 La Folie<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Tasting notes from Haskell:</b><br />
Appearance: Very dark, tan on the edges. Small head dissipates to thin film of bubbles. After a swirl fine bubbles thickly coat edge of glass, almost milky in appearance - the beer itself is clear.<br />
<br />
Aroma: Soapy? Musty graininess. Piney evergreen smell, similar to Juniper berries (I grabbed some from the cupboard to confirm!). Odd combination, not sure what to expect from this beer.<br />
<br />
Taste: Super creamy, smooth, rich. Wow, not what I was expecting at all. Roast pops up late, clear alcohol component but not detrimental. Taste lingers for a long time, pine definitely shows up, almost tingly. Doesn't come across as sweet, no chocolate or vanilla - some subtle caramel comes through. I'm guessing the brett dried it out, but not much funk or tartness. Tough one to describe. <br />
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Mouthfeel: Low carbonation, feels soft, luxurious. Great mouthfeel out of the gate. Finishes with astringency and a piney prickliness. Kind of coats the mouth.<br />
<br />
Overall: Really enjoyable, an enigma out of the bottle (Enigma would be a good beer name!). After tasting the aroma feels more appropriate, but still curious. We kind of like the discrepancy. I think the brett is a key component in making this beer what it is, but for the life of me I can't pinpoint its contributions. What a unique and interesting beer! I think the coffee version might be a great pairing, looking forward to trying that. Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-31850048000749621152014-01-26T20:31:00.000-08:002015-01-10T10:33:14.569-08:00Turbid Mash Lambic 2014<br />
If I was to drown in a vat (or hogshead) of beer that I'd prefer it to be Lambic (or Gueuze). For my palate, Lambic's complex combination of funk and tart is heaven in a glass, and I can imagine no better style-driven drinking session than one exploring these beers. They can be a bit pricey, but it is a special treat to sit down with a few friends and drink around a few bottles.<br />
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Despite my affection for the style, I have never brewed one before. These beers require not only prowess in the brewhouse (as I will detail shortly), but also patience after brewday. There is no hard-and-fast rule regarding how long you should allow Lambic to sit in secondary (most brewers would say at least a year), but I had previously shunned tying up one of my vessels for such a long time. With a recent purchase of more kegs, I decided the timing was right to try my hand at brewing a Lambic.<br />
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I've been fortunate over the last few years to have tried a variety of Cantillion and Drie Fontenen Gueuze, and know I prefer those that are aggressively sour and Funky (yes, with a capital "F"). Since I was putting in the investment of at least a year, I wanted to take the time to emulate those beers as much as I could. Awhile back, the (awesome) <a href="http://www.funkfactorygeuzeria.com/2011/12/cantillon-turbid-mash.html" target="_blank">Funk Factory blog published Cantillion's "turbid mash" procedure scaled down to a homebrew system</a>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJI1mTvUiV08PKZs_31LljKamRgdGSjDKTdC2tkqyVLdollrcP6kIJt4WGEuPqtEsX4yASXs0bmQnlT6GCY_5UPTH-eadeNHlR4DVpD4qdVg9yTGtRENVzxiHPIIfmWfAO8mZhByCdwM/s1600/raw+wheat+berries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJI1mTvUiV08PKZs_31LljKamRgdGSjDKTdC2tkqyVLdollrcP6kIJt4WGEuPqtEsX4yASXs0bmQnlT6GCY_5UPTH-eadeNHlR4DVpD4qdVg9yTGtRENVzxiHPIIfmWfAO8mZhByCdwM/s1600/raw+wheat+berries.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unmilled, unmalted red wheat berries.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXcDdgiM60xGR2UJSp50nIdzhASF_eUOlHvrFQley8j1sLD6tgU3jLQJo2I_PkuMe2wllLgPdYrg1mhB_1gHwzhXQwarE46cMNJ4Rs6E3KKuwCEz-cT5G19YVe-gVnXfJM4D3L-p-0l8/s1600/milled+wheat+berries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXcDdgiM60xGR2UJSp50nIdzhASF_eUOlHvrFQley8j1sLD6tgU3jLQJo2I_PkuMe2wllLgPdYrg1mhB_1gHwzhXQwarE46cMNJ4Rs6E3KKuwCEz-cT5G19YVe-gVnXfJM4D3L-p-0l8/s1600/milled+wheat+berries.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unmalted red wheat, milled three times. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Because Lambics are traditionally made using unmalted wheat, they require a protein rest (at ~120º) to convert the larger proteins and starches (where wheat locks energy prior to germination) into digestible bits for the yeast and bugs. This said, you also want to preserve some of the starches for the slow-moving Brettanomyces yeast and Pediococcus to work on as the beer ages. Turbid mashing involves removing a portion of the mash liquor and heating it to a high temperature, denaturing any enzymes that would, in a traditional mash, work on the starches and converting them into yeast-accessible sugars. This turbid portion locks up some nutrients in the starches that Brett and Pedio have to work hard to get after; all that hard work creates the wonderful sour and funky flavors that I dig in Lambics. Here are each of the steps in the turbid mash with a little more detail (I do have a beersmith mash profile if anyone is interested -- comment below):<br />
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1. Add 1 qt. 136ºF water to grain to rest at 113º F for 20
mins. I did this in a bucket (as suggested on the <a href="http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/08/lambic-3-turbid-mash.html" target="_blank">Mad Fermentationist Blog</a>) as it was easier than working with the thick mash in my mash tun.
(I also filled the space below my false-bottom in my MT with 136º
water.)<br />
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2. Transfer grain from bucket to MT. Add 4 qts. boiling water to MT rest at 136º F for 5 mins.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg702IrzAfblzHuDZfGgviJl6pb8emq3k05L7ficuvNxPRKZkO6wNy-mJaAzCgXth8k8hNIu2ctW1AUPEqDKpYg5moSnabny1LVdUVlJEA1fCNMV1cVzKfBhfFYEcxb7r4971ixKeH1HiU/s1600/Bucket+Mash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg702IrzAfblzHuDZfGgviJl6pb8emq3k05L7ficuvNxPRKZkO6wNy-mJaAzCgXth8k8hNIu2ctW1AUPEqDKpYg5moSnabny1LVdUVlJEA1fCNMV1cVzKfBhfFYEcxb7r4971ixKeH1HiU/s1600/Bucket+Mash.jpg" height="320" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because of the low water-to-grain ratio of this first<br />
mash, it maintained temp no problem.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5qXzsemEWGHG_pGC79NjVo4e0CllomsqXxgXtifx78w0H28D6CgB3R5duLaXfNUjvldJJXVwHp8mO5S3SaeFZIlA2a7EqRn9Nfrl0jXF-3GnZGnXgcjQZ-Ps0bvi_O6O0Hnk6ZYwiRQ/s1600/IMG_1803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5qXzsemEWGHG_pGC79NjVo4e0CllomsqXxgXtifx78w0H28D6CgB3R5duLaXfNUjvldJJXVwHp8mO5S3SaeFZIlA2a7EqRn9Nfrl0jXF-3GnZGnXgcjQZ-Ps0bvi_O6O0Hnk6ZYwiRQ/s1600/IMG_1803.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Apparently its called a turbid mash for a reason...</td></tr>
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3. After temp has stabilized, remove 1 qt. mash liquid to separate pot. Heat and maintain this "turbid portion" at 176º F (to stop enzymatic processes) until mashout (see step 6-7). <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-PlV1RoeUoRFwm2YBA8Vt9EWgQ4ihCw52lUMbx-ObprWo4ZRRkHAxS2tuyJkmYJ9kDe63DsN4W4QETL46v43ThFJbZJ5Q4L0KW-0qHyh8UnKEtoA_hUEJAsFqKaxbnPqOc6T8Wjs7Jc/s1600/turbid+portion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-PlV1RoeUoRFwm2YBA8Vt9EWgQ4ihCw52lUMbx-ObprWo4ZRRkHAxS2tuyJkmYJ9kDe63DsN4W4QETL46v43ThFJbZJ5Q4L0KW-0qHyh8UnKEtoA_hUEJAsFqKaxbnPqOc6T8Wjs7Jc/s1600/turbid+portion.jpg" height="320" width="233" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I used my heated stirplate to maintain my turbid temp.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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4. Add 6 qts. of boiling water to the MLT to bring mash to 149º F. Stir to normalize temp.<br />
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5. Remove 4 more qts. of the mash liquid to your turbid pot. reheat to 176º. Rest both mash and turbid portion for 30 minutes. <br />
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6. Add 5 qts. boiling water to MLT to bring main mash up to 162º F. Rest for 20 minutes. Slowly raise turbid portion to 186º.<br />
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7. Add turbid portion back into mash, to rest at 167º F for 20 minutes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8uLz0oldy5a-RGbfmwrcb56FskoJSXWAxKQm7ayq83Vv-wwTF7vmK-byZkxOULRr-LchKX7lKrx-4PKmS_IJVlLEkJ66R-xDFjZl7IM803TQ0cBqfI_a4XjAPEnM8Uo_6_ngpNOXL-I/s1600/vorlauf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8uLz0oldy5a-RGbfmwrcb56FskoJSXWAxKQm7ayq83Vv-wwTF7vmK-byZkxOULRr-LchKX7lKrx-4PKmS_IJVlLEkJ66R-xDFjZl7IM803TQ0cBqfI_a4XjAPEnM8Uo_6_ngpNOXL-I/s1600/vorlauf.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The almighty VORLAUF! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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8. Vorlauf and run off.<br />
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9. Fly sparge with 6.4 gallons of 185º F water, until 9 gallons in BK.<br />
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**Note: The volumes above were approximate -- while I did measure at times I needed to add more water to the MT to keep the mash-bed floating. I also found the direct-fired MT to be helpful in regulating temps. This will vary from system-to-system.<br />
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Although I did not have any dregs from Cantillion or Drie Fontenen on hand, I did find a bottle of Oude Gueuze Boon at a local bottle shop. I gladly decanted and drank that sucker, being careful not to disturb the sediment in the bottom. I added some sterile 1.020ish wort to the bottle, to hopefully jumpstart the dregs. In about 2 weeks I noticed a pellicle forming in the corked bottle. It smelled tart and funky, so it was viable. I was able to source some Bugfarm IV from my buddy Haskell (used in his Flanders Red), so I decided to pitch that as well. Finally, I had some second-generation Belle Saison yeast that I decided to pitch as the sacchromyces strain. I pitched these all together the day after I brewed. I'm letting this sit at ambient temps in my basement, which is between 55-62 this time of year.<br />
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Here's a bit more detail on my the recipe and process, culled from the Beersmith report:<br />
--------------------------<br />
Boil Size: 9.70 gal<br />
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal<br />
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal <br />
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal<br />
Estimated OG: 1.046 SG<br />
Estimated Color: 3.3 SRM<br />
Estimated IBU: 2.2 IBUs<br />
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %<br />
Est Mash Efficiency: 79.5 %<br />
Boil Time: 240 Minutes<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
------------<br />
Amt Name <br />
6 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) <br />
4 lbs Raw wheat - Unmalted Wheat (2.0 SRM)<br />
3.00 oz Lambic Aged Hops [0.20 %] - Boil 220.0 m <br />
1 qt. slurry Belle Saison (Lallemand #Belle Saison) <br />
1 cup slurry Bugfarm IV (Haskell)<br />
Restarted dregs from bottle of Oude Gueze Boon <br />
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Total mash water: 5 gallons. Total sparge water: ~6.4 gallons (to ~9 gallons). <br />
R.O. water with<br />
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***Keep HLT at ~185º until mashout.***<br />
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Resources:<br />
Mad Fermentationist: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2009/08/lambic-3-turbid-mash.html<br />
Funk Factory: http://www.funkfactorygeuzeria.com/2011/12/cantillon-turbid-mash.html<br />
_________<br />
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Brew Day notes:<br />
10:00 AM - Transferred ALL water (RO) to HLT. Added all salts (calculated via Bru'n Water "yellow malty") to HLT. Began heating.<br />
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Calculated water:<br />
Ca 42.9<br />
Mg 5.2<br />
Na 8.0<br />
SO4 36.3<br />
Cl 48.6<br />
BiCarbonate 48.2<br />
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10:30 - Milled grain. Ran the wheat berries through the mill 3 times. Added rice hulls (1 handful)<br />
11:00 - still waiting for water to hit ~135-7º to mix with grain. (At 121º)<br />
11:15 - added 4 qts water to MT (up to false bottom). Turned on burner to bring water to 136ºF<br />
11:17 - added 3 qts 138º water (should've been 136ºF, or even lower) to grain in bucket to settle at somewhere between 110º and 118ºF (113ºF). Cranked HLT to heat water to 186º for next infusion. (Next time -- heat extra 3 qts. in MT to free up HLT for heating.)<br />
11:40 - MT water at 152; HLT at 175 -- added grain and transferred 4 qts. H20 to MT. Really thick. Nailed temperature at 136ºF <br />
12:00 - Added 6 qts. water. Stabilized mash at 145º. turned on MT burner. Removed 4 qts to side burner. Added ~2.5 qts h20 to refloat mash in MT.<br />
12:25 - Side-burner portion at 176ºF.<br />
12:47 - Infused 5 qts. near-boiling water. Stabilized mash (w/ burner) at 162ºF<br />
1:08 - Added turbid portion (186º) back to MT. Nailed 167ºF. Burner on to maintain 167ºF. <br />
1:28 - Transferred first runnings to BK. 4.25 gallons of 1.049 (12.2 P) wort.<br />
1:30 - Infused remaining h20 into MT. Stabilized at 167º F. Burner on.<br />
1:45 - Transferred batc sparge to BK. Preboil: 9 gallons @ 1.032 (8ºP)<br />
2:15 - Boil. Added 3 oz. aged Willamette hops.<br />
3:01 - down to 8.05 gallons. 1.034 (8.8º P)<br />
4:00 - 7 gallons, 1.043 (10.8º P)<br />
4:40 - 6.5 gallons 1.048 (12º P)<br />
5:00 - 1.054. Insert chiller.<br />
5:14 - Flameout.<br />
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Collected 4.5 gallons of 1.053 wort. Will top up with 3/4 gallon of boiled water for 5.25 gallons of 1.045 wort.<br />
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<b>EDIT 1/10/2015: </b>Thanks for the comments! <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-c4JaLye5-5Q3FlbFIzdXlVV0U/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Here's the Beersmith2 profile I created for this.</a> (Let me know if it doesn't work for some reason and I'll host it somewhere else...) Note that the volumes in the profile ARE NOT ACCURATE! Instead use the instructions in the "Notes" section of Beersmith, reposted here:<br />
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Total mash water: 5 gallons. Total sparge water: ~6.4 gallons (to ~9 gallons).<br />
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***Keep HLT at ~185º until mashout.***<br /><br />See mash for h2o infusion temps...but here are the steps:<br />0. Fill deadspace of MT w/ 4 qts. h20.<br />1. Add 1 qt. 136ºF to grain to rest at 113º F for 20 mins.<br />2. Add grain to MT w/ 4 qts. to rest at 136º F for 5 mins.<br />3. Remove 1 qt. mash liquid to pot. Heat to 176º (stop enzymatic processes).<br />4. Add 6 qts. to rest at 149º F for 30 mins.<br />5. Remove 4 qts. mash liquid to pot. Heat to 176º.<br />6. Add 5 qts. to rest at 162º F for 20 mins. <br />7. Add turbid portion back into mash, rest at 167º F.<br />8. Vorlauf and run off.<br />9 Fly sparge with 6.4 gallons of 185º F water, until 9 gallons in BK.<br /><br />
<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-17923607285499092542014-01-14T16:52:00.002-08:002014-01-15T22:09:00.211-08:00Tasting Notes - Haskell's "BOD 09 XX"<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4UMTo0mZp7KUgsNtx9XLGAJmuNohAfZKPn_PzVD4QscewqpRGOzzH1mXO4SBdSj2AIEZc6yV4G5hmOJkAoK2z52MEcrZawv2hGeqUNTDbYDDLR057_IAQ9VzWUmVHNlH5-T8IgEXjNQ/s640/blogger-image-1651893005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4UMTo0mZp7KUgsNtx9XLGAJmuNohAfZKPn_PzVD4QscewqpRGOzzH1mXO4SBdSj2AIEZc6yV4G5hmOJkAoK2z52MEcrZawv2hGeqUNTDbYDDLR057_IAQ9VzWUmVHNlH5-T8IgEXjNQ/s640/blogger-image-1651893005.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some tasting notes on a second bottle of Haskell's beer. (I posted my notes on what I believed was his <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Flander's Red</a> a few months back.) This one was labeled "BOD 09 XX" on the cap. Judging only from what I poured into my glass, I believe this one is a bourbon-oak-aged imperial stout. I take the "BOD" on the cap to mean "bourbon-oaked d___"; the "09" to be the year (making this beer around 5 years old!); and the "XX" as a warning to the consumer regarding its alcohol strength.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Inspection:</b> Not apparent in the pics, but the bottle was a high-fill. When I poured it (somewhat aggressively as it has low carbonation), a lump of something (oak?) followed the liquid into the glass.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Aroma:</b> Vanilla extract, complete with rich dark-caramel alcohol notes. Some brown or turbinado sugar. Sweet. As it warms there are increased alcohol notes -- a little sharp, but not offensive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrOO-C_PMkP4IquS3IVxWmZHcAExJ8s2nU7lyvrEuRLTlx7VT54lSFeXsrPmPrT6tcwhrZn-4MLOVRx1S8TvauhhDo7HvIfJx6RrRo722dIqrdPeqKfZgsTibcUYlB9iuzeU1z_NMJbfA/s640/blogger-image--1798218386.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrOO-C_PMkP4IquS3IVxWmZHcAExJ8s2nU7lyvrEuRLTlx7VT54lSFeXsrPmPrT6tcwhrZn-4MLOVRx1S8TvauhhDo7HvIfJx6RrRo722dIqrdPeqKfZgsTibcUYlB9iuzeU1z_NMJbfA/s640/blogger-image--1798218386.jpg" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Appearance:</b> Black, black, black. Even held up to light I cannot see through this beer. Around the rim of the glass is a faint true-brown color, but it does not go into the liquid at all. No head whatsoever, despite a somewhat aggressive pour. What bubbles did form were a dark brown-sugar color, almost like the crema on a nice espresso. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Flavor:</b> Rich and sweet. Up front there is a dark-sugar sweetness, with a nice touch of umami. Vanilla on the back end, that trails into a nice tannic oakiness. Some sawdust. Tongue-swelling alcohol that leaves the mouth a bit juicy. Surprising balance given how sweet it smells. A bit more carbonation would add a nice carbonic bite.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Mouthfeel:</b> Rich and viscous. Could benefit from a touch more carbonation (but too much would get in the way of the beer). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Overall:</b> I should have waited until after dinner to open this beer! A thick, decadent, well-aged beer that I'd be excited to replicate. A bit sweet for my taste, but I think carbing it up a bit more would help. I'm unsure what the ferm details were, but I'd be sure to control it during growth phase to limit the ethanol production. This was very similar to the base-beer for the Bourbon County varietals I has the fortune of tasting over Xmas. A real treat to sit and sip. </span>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-45034213727980761972014-01-07T20:03:00.002-08:002015-01-12T00:22:37.504-08:00Brewery Resolutions for 2014...(If its on the internet I have to do it, right?)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBQoKSGqOH206macqw_OQj3DNOFanUCy6hSbIeb1J94hE9xTBpDA71z9Rr8LLPfBCzFEZjf2kMz4bbVBtZwPtQkOJASsUWV362UV7crM9x4p0XcIOiIyqVN369-J7yLZgB-W_XidHs-w/s1600/IMG_1351.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBQoKSGqOH206macqw_OQj3DNOFanUCy6hSbIeb1J94hE9xTBpDA71z9Rr8LLPfBCzFEZjf2kMz4bbVBtZwPtQkOJASsUWV362UV7crM9x4p0XcIOiIyqVN369-J7yLZgB-W_XidHs-w/s1600/IMG_1351.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2013 was a great year of beer. (From Hill Farmstead's Zwanze Day).</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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It being the time to make resolutions and all that, I thought I'd post a couple of my personal goals for the upcoming year in beer. I'll just rattle these off:<br />
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<b>1. More blog posts. <Oh, the irony...></b><br />
Last year I brewed 120 gallons of beer, combinations of 5 and 10 gallon batches (17 total brew days). Its not that I don't take notes for all of my beers; I use Beersmith<b> </b>to track all my brew days, and mark water chem, addition times, musical selections, etc. (honest!). Yet only a portion of these brews ever hit this blog--10 posts in 2013, and only a few on actual brew sessions. You think this blog is only for you, the reader? Writing these posts makes me pause and reflect on past batches, and mandates better tracking in my own brewery. This year...more reflections! More tasting notes!<br />
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<b>2. Nail a few house recipes.</b><br />
Despite having a few "base" recipes, I tend to tweak my beers in one way or another each time I brew them. By year's end I'd like to have at least four "minor-tweak" or "house" recipes:<br />
Brett Saison (based on previous iterations of <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2013/04/sweaty-bretty-brewed-4132013-and-3.html" target="_blank">Sweaty Bretty</a>), Brett Trois IPA (Grizzly), Hoppy <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2013/05/nhc-2013-great-berliner.html" target="_blank">Berliner Weisse</a>, and a Robust Porter. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrE_wXezJ1HUNHDOq6BIkM6UMFiFT3pRT91MHEEQ3iZWhC2_RlO-cwCJmk1mI1NQP1BTOJmQEuCoZ0WZqfSjd6E3Xi_97HcjxMralNF2wORkhCGHxkOcEkxprEnHqRrqMkHWQ4Zz0ef0/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrE_wXezJ1HUNHDOq6BIkM6UMFiFT3pRT91MHEEQ3iZWhC2_RlO-cwCJmk1mI1NQP1BTOJmQEuCoZ0WZqfSjd6E3Xi_97HcjxMralNF2wORkhCGHxkOcEkxprEnHqRrqMkHWQ4Zz0ef0/s1600/IMG_0966.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KEGS! At NHC in Philly. Highly recommended.</td></tr>
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<b>3. <strike>Make</strike> Start a complex sour</b>.<br />
I've made a few Berliner Weisses using the quick-souring technique to good result. Admittedly, more complex sour beers take time. I'd like to have a few gallons of lambic reserved for blending by years end. I'm planning to get started on this next weekend (1/7/2014), when I'll be doing my first turbid mash. Whew, stay tuned for the good times.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrh2LD8MbEyJUUlzD38BhlfrOFQwVDvJ05peFukFmUEobEP7cMyMSL79jPQn4zWjpv3FtEKhCHJO-561ZZD1pPRybUk45V-pPmuPvR_X86qSKOvIqtrzRylZWrpH2H6TaBOXfGtrqqh0/s1600/IMG_0993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXrh2LD8MbEyJUUlzD38BhlfrOFQwVDvJ05peFukFmUEobEP7cMyMSL79jPQn4zWjpv3FtEKhCHJO-561ZZD1pPRybUk45V-pPmuPvR_X86qSKOvIqtrzRylZWrpH2H6TaBOXfGtrqqh0/s1600/IMG_0993.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not sure who took this beautiful picture. I wish 'twere me, but 'twasn't...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<b>4. Improve inventory trackin</b>g.<br />
This would apply to both the supply and demand side of the brewery, but most specifically the supply-side. I've been fortunate enough to benefit from bulk grain buys coupling with the Albany Brew Crafters, but tend to dry up the reserves in-between purchases. This year I'd like to track inventory more closely to take full advantage. In the past I've attempted to use Beersmith's inventory feature to track purchases and usages of grain and hops, but the feature does seem a little unwieldy and counter-intuitive. Perhaps a good old-fashioned spreadsheet would be the way to go.<br />
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I think these four goals are approachable and surmountable, and should keep me pretty busy. If I meet all four I'll be a content brewer at year's end. Hold yourself accountable to any brewery related resolutions by commenting below, and happy brewing! (And please resist the obvious puns -- they are painful to even the most literary of brewers...)Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-10950309920711134392013-10-22T16:52:00.001-07:002014-02-18T11:20:08.122-08:00Washing and Freezing Yeast with Glycerin in a Frost-Free FreezerIn this post I'm detailing a method I have used to wash and freeze yeast from a slurry, including how I made my glycerin mixture. I did this ONCE at the time I wrote this post, so I am new to this stuff. Yes, this has been done before by others, and I provide links to a few sites where I got my info. This post is meant to track the method I am using.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsj1hdqmGknt-UAt90HGHOJ2QXfoORN_0bb5Px3EooqqDyHXMTQDjjEgy6xtLf2GWrsGjmGeWURlIbR2zHMSZ4NO9pBXAbIQQW4Ei6Bf62KUawtC_DhA8A9z4y4a-Jo7g1z8EwY0PMKvo/s1600/Starter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsj1hdqmGknt-UAt90HGHOJ2QXfoORN_0bb5Px3EooqqDyHXMTQDjjEgy6xtLf2GWrsGjmGeWURlIbR2zHMSZ4NO9pBXAbIQQW4Ei6Bf62KUawtC_DhA8A9z4y4a-Jo7g1z8EwY0PMKvo/s320/Starter.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A big ol' healthy starter. This is what <br />
we're after! </td></tr>
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First off - a warning... This is a new process for me, and I'm still learning all the "best practices." I culled my method from a few sources--most notably a friend on the <a href="http://www.albanybrewcrafters.com/forum/index.php?topic=679.0" target="_blank">Albany Brew Crafters homebrew forums</a> who has been banking yeast for awhile now, the washing and freezing yeast<a href="http://www.schwedhelm.net/brew/yeast_harv_freeze.html" target="_blank"> page on swedhelm.net</a>, and this great <a href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/freezing-yeast.html" target="_blank">how-to write up on Homebrewtalk</a>. Seriously, check out these resources -- they go into more of the "why" behind this process. Also, I'm doing this for temporary storage purposes of some of the strains that , and don't have a giant lab or complex equipment (beyond that of a geeky brewer). I work under <i>sanitary</i> conditions, not <i>sterile</i> conditions. Some will scoff at this, but I'm going for simplicity here, and don't want to dedicate too much time or money to this endeavor. I use star-san because that's what I have. I don't own a pressure cooker or a microwave (its ok to laugh...), so I use my stovetop and electric teakettle. <b>I am not a scientist, nor do I play one on the internet!!</b><br />
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Washing and freezing yeast for future use is a practice that has multiple benefits in the ambitious homebrewery. First off, it'll save you money. You need yeast everytime you make beer; while a pitch of readily available (White Labs or Wyeast) yeast typically cost between $7 and $9, you can stretch this across numerous brews, drastically decreasing the cost of each batch. Secondly, it allows you to collect and "bank" all those hard-to-find or seasonal yeasts for future uses or trading. Sure, I brew saisons year round, but I do like to switch up my yeasts here and there, depending on the size and interpretation of the beer, and whether or not I want to add Brettanomyces after primary, for example. If I bank a few strains of saison yeasts (such as <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2013/08/20130818-sweaty-bretty-petite.html" target="_blank">Bootleg Biology's Funky Saison</a>), I have those on hand whenever I feel the itch to brew. Finally, harvesting yeast just feels like part of brewing. I would argue it makes you pay closer attention to yeast health and pitching rates.<br />
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Because I'm writing this as much for me as I am for you (that happens a lot on this blog, if you haven't noticed...), I'm just going to run through the equipment I used and my basic process. I'll see how this pans out this first time and maybe modify this post in the future. (Maybe.)<br />
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<b>Equipment:</b><br />
One tea candle<br />
Yeast slurry with beer on it (in a mason jar)<br />
Glyerin (I used <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Solutions-Glycerine-Vegetable-16-Fluid-Ounces/dp/B0019LWU2K" target="_blank">"Now" brand</a>)<br />
50 ml tubes with lids<br />
2000 ml Erlenmeyer flask<br />
250 ml Erlenmeyer flask<br />
One 2-liter soda bottle with lid, sanitized (for storing glycerin solution)<br />
Additional mason jars (for washing yeast)<br />
Star-san in a spray-bottle<br />
800 mls boiling water<br />
~1 Liter of boiled and cooled water for yeast rinsing<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many household applications...</td></tr>
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<b>Step One: Make 20% Glycerin solution.</b><br />
People smarter than me ran some super smarty-pants science tests, and figured out the ideal percentage of glycerin for freezing yeast in a frost-free freezer is between 10 - 15%. (This is from the <a href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/freezing-yeast.html" target="_blank">Homebrewtalk how-to</a>.) If you mix a 5:1 water:glycerin solution with the same volume of yeast slurry, you hit your 10% glycerin content. I wanted to make a liter of the 20% solution so I have it on hand whenever I want to freeze some yeast. This was super easy in metric -- 800 mls water plus 200 mls glycerin.<br />
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I also wanted to store this sanitarily, so I could just pour and go at later dates. I don't have an autoclave or pressure cooker, or I would have gone that route. Instead, I simply heated 800 mls of water in an Erlenmeyer flask, and added the 200 mls of glycerin once it was boiling. After it returned to a boil, I turned off the burner and let it sit there to cool down. It took a couple hours to chill, but it held over 180 for about a half hour or so. This in my mind was good enough, and really it was like 5 minutes of hands-on, so the time investment was right.<br />
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<b>Step Two: Rinse Yeast.</b><br />
Before freezing, you want to get some good clean yeast. I'm working from a couple of yeast cakes I stored in mason jars, and they have a bunch of trub mixed in with the yeast, so I need to "rinse" the yeast. This is pretty easy:<br />
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(0. Its best to do these steps next to a candle or a flame of some sort -- this keeps any airborne bugs from landing in your samples.)<br />
1. Put your harvested cake in the fridge and let the yeast settle until the jar "clears." This could take a few days to a week, depending on the flocculation properties of the yeast strain.<br />
2. Decant the beer off the top of the cake.<br />
3. Add some of the boiled and cooled water to the mason jar. Add about the same volume as the remaining cake.<br />
4. Mix it up really well and return it to the fridge.<br />
5. Wait anywhere from 5 minutes to a half hour, depending on the strain and flocculation properties. You'll notice the water will still be cloudy, and the darker matter (trub) will have settled to the bottom of the jar.<br />
6. Decant the water and a bit of the creamy top layer into another sanitized mason jar. Repeat this a few times if desired to get all the good stuff. (Don't forget to label the jar, especially if you are working with multiple samples.)<br />
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<b><br />Step Three: Concentrating the Yeast Sample.</b><br />
After you've separated the healthy yeast from the trub, the next step is to get an acceptable <br />
concentration of yeast in each of your vials. You want to combine a dense slurry with the glycerin solution, so when you thaw it out it'll be ready to rock without too much stepping up. The mantra here is "shake, wait, decant, repeat."<br />
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First, <b>shake</b> the mason jar with your rinsed yeast. Let it settle for ~ 5 minutes in the fridge, and pour the cloudy liquid into your vials.<br />
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Then, return your vials to the fridge and <b>wait</b> for them settle for about a half hour to 45 minutes.<br />
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Then <b>decant</b> the liquid from each of the vials, retaining the slurry at the bottom.<br />
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<b>Repeat</b> this process until the slurry fills about 2/5ths of the vial. On my 50 ml vials this is about 20mls of slurry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRSgrxZqb0ZT60ZLxyoxRBUtFhPj07_PTYLxJAvMtH4hsNH3rs8LdMXS9Q1Jhcao8Q1C4vfkvSt6yWG7DoSbMXWWDzG3St9788_U1WCzPRR5JwezxNF-6r22WuJnJ4Xo4wbqVuWnoYs8/s1600/Rinsed+Yeast+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPRSgrxZqb0ZT60ZLxyoxRBUtFhPj07_PTYLxJAvMtH4hsNH3rs8LdMXS9Q1Jhcao8Q1C4vfkvSt6yWG7DoSbMXWWDzG3St9788_U1WCzPRR5JwezxNF-6r22WuJnJ4Xo4wbqVuWnoYs8/s320/Rinsed+Yeast+copy.jpg" height="280" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is about 1/5th of the vial. <br />
You can also see my coozie in the background, <br />
holding my samples upright (see step five).</td></tr>
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<b>Step Four: Add the Glycerin Solution.</b><br />
This ain't rocket science, but remember to add the same amount of the 20% glycerin solution as you have slurry. This should leave about 1/5th of the vial for expansion during freezing. In my 50ml vials, this is 20mls of solution. Shake it up really good to mix the glycerin solution with the slurry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRg9fAMoKHQoOR9WW_mNw5ej6olQPN1tAE4nRvyySkmyASO1tJHxDDMIp7bhIBc-mxS7PVAbTmD-mYVr0YvWX-sQIadMe2rB_kHQ3VGOPo2I6XMYE-PP8huQkqxYBZ6jD9V27cDT1dww/s1600/FROZEN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicRg9fAMoKHQoOR9WW_mNw5ej6olQPN1tAE4nRvyySkmyASO1tJHxDDMIp7bhIBc-mxS7PVAbTmD-mYVr0YvWX-sQIadMe2rB_kHQ3VGOPo2I6XMYE-PP8huQkqxYBZ6jD9V27cDT1dww/s320/FROZEN.jpg" height="320" style="cursor: move;" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few frozen vials with my insulated <br />
lunchsack and beer coozie.</td></tr>
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<b>Step Five: Insulate and Freeze.</b><br />
In order to shed moisture, a frost-free freezer actually goes through occasional defrost cycles. The constant freezing and thawing of yeast could damage cells, so homebrewers typically insulate their yeast collections in some fashion. You also want your samples to freeze upright. Thinking about this stuff, I bought an insulated lunch bag, and packed it with an icepack and a beer coozie. Simple, cheap and effective. Of course, I'll need to come up with a more commodious solution as my library grows, but in the interim this works great.<br />
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<b>UPDATE 2/18/2014:</b> I successfully thawed out some of the Bootleg Bio yeast that I froze, so this method works!!Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-27669060716551995962013-09-22T13:34:00.001-07:002013-09-22T13:48:00.416-07:00Tasting Notes - Haskell's FlandersA friend, Haskell, threw me a bottle of one of his Flanders beers. I'm thinking its an oaked red, judging from the bottlecap (that said "OAK"), and from what I recall. (I obtained it about a month ago on a trip to Burlington, so the memory is a bit fuzzy.) Working from my memory, I believe it was brewed with East Coast Yeast Bugfarm IV. I thought I'd post the notes up here, just because I was going to write them up anyway.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGq7COmOmhIoUFbsZNXf80JiJrtCeU4R1g2p5AFxOidrzv6lTCsrAwcUlKVy1hPU7n1rpa3j1bjJraUnylLR8QMYBKaApsJ3fq8R4mFUzAwC9Jl7kNwSelat_SPk4R_wf8cZp3FFHrHqw/s1600/flanders1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGq7COmOmhIoUFbsZNXf80JiJrtCeU4R1g2p5AFxOidrzv6lTCsrAwcUlKVy1hPU7n1rpa3j1bjJraUnylLR8QMYBKaApsJ3fq8R4mFUzAwC9Jl7kNwSelat_SPk4R_wf8cZp3FFHrHqw/s320/flanders1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks far darker here than it actually was.<br />
Great looking beer, overall.</td></tr>
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Aroma: Strong acetic character, with some pleasant cherry pie in there. A touch of vanilla, although it is subdued (nowhere near Duchesse). Some perceptible alcohol, especially as the beer warms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Eidl2nv0BKqDSfAUed4kpcm3rjB2cTi9zhRjxTylRQC3jNOne9VBeBxHI7NL_VglWG3mIlZwaL58kWRI-l57xVFNgAwBDku1WItoas6lYh7wytQZn4KBmz_sgcjvBeQUhpzt33SrQ0o/s1600/flanders2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Eidl2nv0BKqDSfAUed4kpcm3rjB2cTi9zhRjxTylRQC3jNOne9VBeBxHI7NL_VglWG3mIlZwaL58kWRI-l57xVFNgAwBDku1WItoas6lYh7wytQZn4KBmz_sgcjvBeQUhpzt33SrQ0o/s320/flanders2.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Appearance: Ruby reddish brown, with good clarity. Low, off-white head that dissipates leaving islands of small bubbles.<br />
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Flavor: Firmly tart, but without any acetic burn. Reminiscent of crab-apples or sour cherries, slightly sweet, but not approaching the sweetness of a kriek. I get a bit of saltiness in the middle of the flavor that I often taste in Flanders Reds (esp. in Rodenbach). The vanilla note doesn't come forward as much as it does in the aroma. There is a mulled-spice type flavor on the back end, lingering through the finish, which has a pleasant tannic astringency. Its hard to pick up any oak in there, but I don't think its missed.<br />
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Mouthfeel: Medium bodied, with low carbonation. Medium tannic astringency, on the back end especially.<br />
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Overall: I'd be proud if I brewed this one -- both Jillian and I really enjoyed it. Searching for constructive criticism, the sour character could use a bit more complexity (perhaps from an increased variety of dextrines?). Overall a very nice beer, and thanks for sharing!Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-42120844089124287952013-09-19T14:59:00.001-07:002013-09-19T14:59:52.307-07:00Zwanzé Day 2013 - Hill Farmstead BreweryHere's a quick picture dump and short captions of the Hill Farmstead Zwanzé Day event on September 14th. I was fortunate to get ahold of a ticket through some friends (thanks Ross, Robb and Mike!). It was a blast, and we drank a lot of great beer, and had some good times. There were only 125 people at the actual Zwanzé event, and it felt like even less...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAwKX5VyJ_NfgBc2_WuYpWUBWJxk6zZ3XpcMV5gVf72_0UiEjTV-n7dHOoAsNnZv7B7ZWHO5rgY-de4gkZ6Kpg66z9wNer1I1Uewz5Cai-HiUk14_8pQ7NdyN8LaPYbwu1N1akviP5gg/s1600/IMG_1346.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrAwKX5VyJ_NfgBc2_WuYpWUBWJxk6zZ3XpcMV5gVf72_0UiEjTV-n7dHOoAsNnZv7B7ZWHO5rgY-de4gkZ6Kpg66z9wNer1I1Uewz5Cai-HiUk14_8pQ7NdyN8LaPYbwu1N1akviP5gg/s320/IMG_1346.JPG" width="240" /></a><br />
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Here are some shots of some of the beers we drank that day and evening.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cantillon Saint Lamvinus - Winey and geuzy. <br />
Some tart cranberry.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYyicc0F10NFKq-sOHkyms2YzaX6wlkgNYVCuY8O1F7MIoP2qtcqyTk7OrYA_KgWG9PndkgN0q7g7OQxoi6qeNn6vt5vi504uiZ0Frk3DyIAh3QMY3HgPDJj6TAfWr6LwKM6v5xsjom4/s1600/IMG_1349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKYyicc0F10NFKq-sOHkyms2YzaX6wlkgNYVCuY8O1F7MIoP2qtcqyTk7OrYA_KgWG9PndkgN0q7g7OQxoi6qeNn6vt5vi504uiZ0Frk3DyIAh3QMY3HgPDJj6TAfWr6LwKM6v5xsjom4/s320/IMG_1349.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cantillon Zwanze 2013 - Abbaye de Curieghem</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq5zoZAsvE7B3npTr6iG9ji_ovkoZrI8rCiqDk0hFf7h-zGhPGD1qqonbYSyiL3-C3RMig2Zzn-1YMNY-Jh9lkw3R0Up0ApXKwNf0OyCCSo9OVhhLQeVZ1q7dNR9guQUvEhRhssq7ivg/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPq5zoZAsvE7B3npTr6iG9ji_ovkoZrI8rCiqDk0hFf7h-zGhPGD1qqonbYSyiL3-C3RMig2Zzn-1YMNY-Jh9lkw3R0Up0ApXKwNf0OyCCSo9OVhhLQeVZ1q7dNR9guQUvEhRhssq7ivg/s320/IMG_1350.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grassroots Convivial Suarez. One of my favs of the day.<br />
It was brewed with hibiscus, but neither the color or<br />
flavor was too prominent. More apricot and luscious<br />
stonefruit. Dry in the back. Really drinkable.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grassroots Brother Soigné. Had a similar stonefruit <br />
flavor as the Convivial, but also an alfalfa<br />
grassiness. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xtpt8o5_Y-9LeDOmqeEnEsy7399ggSIj8akdjmI3G8USfrfuVjBUejT03cCEhGwluQcslCDTSEgYsiAJdsCoUPIabA1VBp6AA5ftvjQ9LkUN8yZyZb8hDrL-vqrzueDsc2qmQ2bKsz0/s1600/IMG_1352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Xtpt8o5_Y-9LeDOmqeEnEsy7399ggSIj8akdjmI3G8USfrfuVjBUejT03cCEhGwluQcslCDTSEgYsiAJdsCoUPIabA1VBp6AA5ftvjQ9LkUN8yZyZb8hDrL-vqrzueDsc2qmQ2bKsz0/s320/IMG_1352.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cantillon Kriek. Not as boldly tart as the Lou Pepé,<br />
which I prefer. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hill Farmstead Citra Single Hop. After the Cantillon kicked,<br />
they were nice enough to wheel out some of the<br />
house beers...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH3VzcsU9DHP3iLT3L8m5SUr6YgVMDG1fmUnX2PgAIobU5-5vIKqohLRBNidXvXodSjlJiyQKVoqCHfikEBWxbCtUa6UXFaROZBbLy6h-MN3a_R5vbLqye4O2WThUSYmEGVBxrDrbr9k/s1600/IMG_1358.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIH3VzcsU9DHP3iLT3L8m5SUr6YgVMDG1fmUnX2PgAIobU5-5vIKqohLRBNidXvXodSjlJiyQKVoqCHfikEBWxbCtUa6UXFaROZBbLy6h-MN3a_R5vbLqye4O2WThUSYmEGVBxrDrbr9k/s320/IMG_1358.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hill Farmstead Everett. Velvet dark fruit with a substantial<br />
roasty bitterness, a pleasant touch of astringency from<br />
dark malts. Soft and rich mouthfeel. A great<br />
reconception of (American) Robust Porter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABmjPBVLE0OYi9VM-zF5vaavM3RyXIffAjImBII2tKBO7wapIt2RSgOcuD5_XakMnQa7aWxX293UbrSI28yEGevpOwv30pKUzL9QCPbAHdq3DjUHTfnUeYOkhOXEuYwUxeaw-TDn_QRo/s1600/IMG_1360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiABmjPBVLE0OYi9VM-zF5vaavM3RyXIffAjImBII2tKBO7wapIt2RSgOcuD5_XakMnQa7aWxX293UbrSI28yEGevpOwv30pKUzL9QCPbAHdq3DjUHTfnUeYOkhOXEuYwUxeaw-TDn_QRo/s400/IMG_1360.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parker's Pie after party bottle share. Put some notches on the old mash paddle <br />
this evening. Good times. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85izIt1aDn4XKAyEkZry4LRileHi9O0SFS00JtdSW4uXgaK4LK-rb0x9Mn7znGEpjaprVQx4g9PLEPeeQQKVPXQfGJ35APAmK_BzXs4IDtHH3Jhyf-ju2xmH-H4tz4mx89IEjwuT8UwE/s1600/IMG_1361.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh85izIt1aDn4XKAyEkZry4LRileHi9O0SFS00JtdSW4uXgaK4LK-rb0x9Mn7znGEpjaprVQx4g9PLEPeeQQKVPXQfGJ35APAmK_BzXs4IDtHH3Jhyf-ju2xmH-H4tz4mx89IEjwuT8UwE/s320/IMG_1361.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parker Pie Co.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1grBELBQg8n-K9NU8AoUl1UyHu5qYUwPiIaPK8p9LqH4fLA3NbBBr4alClODVqS1_Zsy6Mgcp3j99mVU8PoWq5QqTYC5EW1Ffz1JXZBGddtkgOQ9lV_Fs6i5W9XJn2aTfO33hw4VZnc/s1600/IMG_1363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq1grBELBQg8n-K9NU8AoUl1UyHu5qYUwPiIaPK8p9LqH4fLA3NbBBr4alClODVqS1_Zsy6Mgcp3j99mVU8PoWq5QqTYC5EW1Ffz1JXZBGddtkgOQ9lV_Fs6i5W9XJn2aTfO33hw4VZnc/s320/IMG_1363.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back at the pad...<br />
I love Logsdon's <strike>Saisons</strike> Seizons.<br />
Dry, complex and refreshing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozFL81arNO9jb5pPAsM5eWj9U27SEHBBUyV20L9uJPwKHoyLkTeIffB4vA-eNGpUIsytqNpK_0WkxmzXppGh6KTLUm18wZjfKIkYpBMjhGIAi0AQuXm5hWzjWI0hCnqjI0QTaaBALfVE/s1600/IMG_1366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozFL81arNO9jb5pPAsM5eWj9U27SEHBBUyV20L9uJPwKHoyLkTeIffB4vA-eNGpUIsytqNpK_0WkxmzXppGh6KTLUm18wZjfKIkYpBMjhGIAi0AQuXm5hWzjWI0hCnqjI0QTaaBALfVE/s320/IMG_1366.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get on the beer goggles for Anchorage Bitter Monk.<br />
The first hoppy <b>sour</b> that I've had.<br />
Wonderful and inspirational. The dregs<br />
are in my cellar right now...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL3uYP3jw2SPyA18sjnM1jD_dQemCRrCqc3y7yYqwAeG82wNRmvI2B7ZFTGtf6gltNxcwvcRAcCilIad_QOG9lMRyNvz-o-7A5lii7kBKjy5SURCL9nXaA2AzPJG1sX_sfGOxKYjWISk/s1600/IMG_1367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaL3uYP3jw2SPyA18sjnM1jD_dQemCRrCqc3y7yYqwAeG82wNRmvI2B7ZFTGtf6gltNxcwvcRAcCilIad_QOG9lMRyNvz-o-7A5lii7kBKjy5SURCL9nXaA2AzPJG1sX_sfGOxKYjWISk/s320/IMG_1367.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And we bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.</td></tr>
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<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-12865730883653742902013-08-19T10:37:00.004-07:002013-09-08T13:53:34.230-07:002013.08.18 - Sweaty Bretty PetiteAnother saison post here. Basically, my larger saison that is parsed down to be a table beer. 5 gallons of this will go to our friends' wedding in October. (You can check out their captivating blog on farming, <a href="http://thefarmershusband.com/" target="_blank">The Farmer's Husband, here.</a>) The concept was simply an easy drinking yet interesting beer.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1lnZpZNiOc76zwiaCGGLmKjZQ9XOV9nUYC3rANEcbztjol4twwvdOpgbVmB6uqNSzldhLFLMbvKo_reixDAjufVDOJz-zF5e-ClGqVVk6Me8AvfL9oGWFSGwEYrZYJ4ONWQl9kQYzsI/s1600/2013.08.18+-+Sweaty+Bretty+Petite+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1lnZpZNiOc76zwiaCGGLmKjZQ9XOV9nUYC3rANEcbztjol4twwvdOpgbVmB6uqNSzldhLFLMbvKo_reixDAjufVDOJz-zF5e-ClGqVVk6Me8AvfL9oGWFSGwEYrZYJ4ONWQl9kQYzsI/s320/2013.08.18+-+Sweaty+Bretty+Petite+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh my god, that's the funky shit!</td></tr>
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This beer will be fermented with some yeast sent to me from Jeff at <a href="http://bootlegbiology.com/" target="_blank">Bootleg Biology</a>. I missed meeting up with Jeff at the 2013 National Homebrewers Conference, but he was kind enough to send me along a few samples anyway (thanks brother!). I'll be tracking my progress with this yeast and sending the results and a bottle or two along for the sake of science and homebrewing. Good times.<br />
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The recipe is simple, and I wanted this to be dry and let the yeast shine. So here's the recipe, and my notes.<br />
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<div class="p1">
Est Original Gravity: 1.047 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.047 SG</div>
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Est Final Gravity: 1.006 SG Measured Final Gravity: </div>
<div class="p1">
Bitterness: 19.7 IBUs Est Color: 6.3 SRM</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
14 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) 71.3 %</div>
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3 lbs Vienna Malt (4.0 SRM) 15.3 %</div>
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1 lbs 8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) 7.6 %</div>
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2.1 oz Carafa Special II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) 0.7 %</div>
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1 lbs Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) 5.1 % (Add at end of boil)</div>
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1.00 oz Magnum [14.70 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 6 19.7 IBUs</div>
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1.00 oz Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 7 0.0 IBUs</div>
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1.00 oz Summit [15.90 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 8 0.0 IBUs</div>
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<br /></div>
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2.0 liter starter of Funky Saison (Bootleg Biology)</div>
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2013.08.18 - brew day</div>
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12:00 - Dough in w/ 8 gallons. Dropped from 155º to 148º (target of 145º) Recirc. Add water salts.</div>
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1:10 - Drain to BK. Gravity of 1.060.</div>
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1:30 - Batch Sparge with 8.5 gallons of 165º h2o. Bring temp back up to 165º. Recirc.</div>
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1:50 - Drain sparge to kettle. Add boil salts.</div>
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2:20 - Boil. Gravity of 1.040.</div>
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3:20 - Add Magnum hops.</div>
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3:40 - Add sugar. Add yeast nutrient. Insert chiller and begin pump recirc.</div>
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3:55 - Flameout. Add 1 oz. Chinook leaf. Chill to 180º and hold for 20 mins.</div>
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4:30 - Add 1 oz. Summit. Chiller back on.</div>
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4:50 - Hit ~85ºF. Drain to wittmenter 15.5. Original gravity of 1.047.</div>
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Let sit out to further drop temp. Dropped to ~74ºF overnight. Put in chest freezer to drop to 68º F.</div>
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2013.08.19</div>
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12:30 PM - Pitched 2 liters of active fermenting yeast - Bootleg Biology Funky Saison. Aerated with 1.5 volume O2 for ~ 1 minute. Hold at 68ºF for 36-48 hours.<br />
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2013.08.21</div>
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12:00 PM - Raised temp to ~70ºF (21.5ºC)</div>
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2013.08.22</div>
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3:00 PM - Raised temp to ~73ºF (23ºC)</div>
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___</div>
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2013.08.23</div>
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12:00 PM - Raised temp to ~ 76ºF (24.5º C)</div>
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___</div>
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2013.08.25</div>
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5:30 PM - Raised temp to ~79 ºF (26º C)</div>
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__</div>
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2013.08.26</div>
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Raised temp to ~83º F (27.5º C)</div>
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__</div>
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2013.08.27</div>
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Raised temp to ~86º F (30.5ºC)</div>
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__</div>
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2013.08.29</div>
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Raised temp to ~90ºF (33º C)</div>
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__</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9My6suNLxJBIgwll8GaMc6gUDD5CjuGOq1KX7nSYVglgZXdnfIpwpfAKW42TWaeGSf22Zoc1R6wh0KAoO_6apOR9n6q7XuOQs2C60TEAbEAmkLYLk2fKdrsNWQayZM2okUTycuBvBjc4/s1600/2013.09.08+-+Sweaty+Bretty+Petit+still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9My6suNLxJBIgwll8GaMc6gUDD5CjuGOq1KX7nSYVglgZXdnfIpwpfAKW42TWaeGSf22Zoc1R6wh0KAoO_6apOR9n6q7XuOQs2C60TEAbEAmkLYLk2fKdrsNWQayZM2okUTycuBvBjc4/s320/2013.09.08+-+Sweaty+Bretty+Petit+still.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sample from fermenter on 2013.09.08. <br />
Consensus: delicious. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
2013.09.08</div>
<div class="p1">
Gravity reading 1.005 @ 87ºF … 1.009</div>
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Drop temp to ambient (~70º)</div>
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Appearance: light yellow gold, clear w/ slight haze (will definitely be clear with cold conditioning).</div>
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Smell: White grape juice, w/ slight melon. touch of spicy alcohol. Low note of funk -- not much.</div>
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Taste (uncarbed and warm): Light and refreshing. Pepper, melony fruit. Totally dry on the back end. Pretty excited about this one!<br />
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Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-66501447596051708962013-05-21T14:56:00.001-07:002013-06-04T13:28:28.247-07:00Fermented Eats: Easy Sauerkraut<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So far this blog has focused on beverages, and admittedly will probably continue to do so. That is because I am just beginning to venture into making my own fermented foods, and have a long road of experimentation ahead of me. I do love fermented food of all sorts, and am looking forward to my adventures in this realm as our garden beds start producing some fresh veggies to experiment with. In the meantime I thought I'd get started by making a basic sauerkraut.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsIL6a3VJ8wTNJHq5IjqPKPCQA7ApxYB1WqlgSW4wuQ385JcdMkudIM2U3RTCHQIfOcv0aippqB4A4y4Lzyinm0ayn3PoeeJ3rQUv1_U6CP5H0a_22XXgHxywyuUUtVFFp0h1lT1WgaI/s1600/Sauerkreaut+2+(1)+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMsIL6a3VJ8wTNJHq5IjqPKPCQA7ApxYB1WqlgSW4wuQ385JcdMkudIM2U3RTCHQIfOcv0aippqB4A4y4Lzyinm0ayn3PoeeJ3rQUv1_U6CP5H0a_22XXgHxywyuUUtVFFp0h1lT1WgaI/s320/Sauerkreaut+2+(1)+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In this post I will walk you through the very basic process I followed to make sauerkraut, show you a (very) few pictures of the process, and then link to a video by the king of all foods that are fermented, Sandor Katz. Again, this was my first time making sauerkraut so I am no expert (and Sandor really is!), but I am very pleased with the results, even though it is not as pretty as some of the store-bought stuff.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>It is fitting, I suppose, that this post on a "soured" food is coming on the heels of my post about my Berliner Weisse, as both are soured, German, and (if I do say so myself) delicious. I don't know that sauerkraut would necessarily pair well with Berliner Weisse (it seems as if the flavors would clash), but both are enjoyable in their own right.<br />
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Basically, sauerkraut is veggies, predominantly cabbage (although I also used carrots in my first recipe) fermented in their own juices. I suppose you could use some sort of bacterial culture to aid in gaining a certain flavor, but it is really unnecessary, as all the "bugs" (the bacteria and wild yeast that will do the work of fermentation) will already be on your veggies. Similar to making kombucha, this process is rather safe (no botulism here!) simply because of the pH of the environment you are creating.<br />
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The basic ingredients are salt and, as I mentioned above, cabbage and/or other vegetables. The salt plays two roles: it aids in breaking down cell walls to release the naturally stored juices of the vegetables; and it creates an environment that is hospitable to only certain bacterias. You'll also want some sort of large glass or ceramic jar to ferment and keep the kraut in -- metal is a bad idea because it can react with the acidic environment produced by fermentation.<br />
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To begin, shred your veggies. I've discovered that I don't mind mine a bit chunky because it adds a nice textural element to the final product (not to mention it saves time!). Sandor Katz prefers his finely chopped and grated--as he mentions in the video below, he is interested in "creating surface area."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4GOczNhoG9RC6BtuJZRKK_w42iHop7cKllwV5TL1SBa5hpxvgtG0gJgiwFjTrWjkb_wel-_Md6qRMmQH2VK1DGEjekwx8Oxj07qdb2oWEeDbxLgIoaRk6_DSFBqtu4JtAvmJAFI8DOM/s1600/Sauerkreaut+3+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv4GOczNhoG9RC6BtuJZRKK_w42iHop7cKllwV5TL1SBa5hpxvgtG0gJgiwFjTrWjkb_wel-_Md6qRMmQH2VK1DGEjekwx8Oxj07qdb2oWEeDbxLgIoaRk6_DSFBqtu4JtAvmJAFI8DOM/s320/Sauerkreaut+3+copy.jpg" width="272" /></a><br />
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As you are continuing to chop, layer the veggies in a large bowl with a liberal sprinkling of salt in between the layers. You don't need to go overboard here, as you can always add more if the veggies are refusing to "juice."<br />
Every once in a while pause from chopping to knead and massage the salt into the veggies. They'll start to juice. You want to generate enough juice from the vegetables to cover them when you cram them into your jar--this can take some time, so be patient and soldier on. Think of all that delicious sauerkraut you'll be eating!<br />
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Once you have chopped all your veggies and generated enough juice, simply put the mixture in a jar and let it sit until the flavor reaches the point you want. I left mine for about a week and it was good, but I think I'll let it go longer next time.<br />
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Here is a much more complete walkthrough of this process by Sandor Katz. This is the video I followed when making this batch:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i77hU3zR-fQ" width="420"></iframe>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-22771216220390121932013-05-15T13:40:00.001-07:002013-05-21T12:34:38.147-07:00TAP NY and the Albany Brew Crafters<br />
Just a quick post here to plug the Albany Brew Crafters, and drop off a link to an interview I did with a blogger at the 2013 TAP NY Beer and Food Festival.<br />
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I'm a founding member and the current Brewmaster General of the <a href="http://www.albanybrewcrafters.com/" target="_blank">Albany Brew Crafters</a>, a homebrewing club in Albany, NY. We've been around since April of 2012, and have about 25 paid members, and 30 regular attendees to our meetings. If you're a brewer in the area, you should really join up -- its a lot of fun, and there are some club members that make some great beer. Also, we have some <a href="http://www.albanybrewcrafters.com/forum/" target="_blank">fairly active forum-style message boards</a> that are free to join. We meet the second Wednesday of every month at 7:00 PM at The Ruck in Troy, NY.<br />
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My role as Brewmaster General took me to the 2013 TAP NY Beer and Food Festival this year. Our club set up a booth and mingled with the beer-schwilling masses. We met a lot of great people and made some great contacts with local maltsers and hop growers. New York beer is really starting to take off, due in part to the <a href="http://www.longisland.com/articles/05-08-13/whats-brewing-in-ny-farm-breweries.html" target="_blank">Farm Brewery bill</a> that came into effect in January. With the corresponding upsurge in farm breweries, which must get a specific proportion of their ingredients from regional sources, there has been a similar emergence of local wheat, barley, and hops in the local marketplace. Combined with the excellent line of local and not-so-local beers that the new-ish distributor Remarkable Liquids is bringing into the area (<a href="http://eviltwin.dk/" target="_blank">Evil Twin</a>, <a href="http://mikkeller.dk/#" target="_blank">Mikkeler</a>, <a href="http://stillwaterales.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Stillwater</a>, <a href="http://omnipollo.com/leon" target="_blank">Omnipollo</a>, and recently <a href="http://www.rushingduck.com/" target="_blank">Rushing Duck</a>), there is never a dull trip to the beer bar or store. (My trips to <a href="http://www.thecitybeerhall.com/" target="_blank">The City Beer Hall</a> and <a href="http://getrucked.com/site/" target="_blank">The Ruck</a> are becoming more and more frequent.) Its a pretty exciting time for beer enthusiasts in New York, really.<br />
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So, back to TAP NY...As the Brewmaster General of the Albany Brew Crafters, I was interviewed by a blogger for the TImes Union newspaper. Check out some of my 15 minutes of fame:<br />
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Finally, <a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/pilotgirl/not-your-grandfathers-frat-party/5646/" target="_blank">here's a link to Sonja's write-up on TAP</a>, including this great picture of the Albany Brew Crafters:<br />
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<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-23981190135540390392013-05-12T10:26:00.001-07:002013-07-27T19:44:56.500-07:00NHC 2013: The Great Berliner<br />
This post reflects upon my Berliner Weisse that made it into the second round of the National Homebrewers Competition (NHC). I've entered the NHC the past 3 years, and this is the first year that I have advanced any beers to the second round, so I must be either becoming a better to-style brewer (or I'm beginning to game the system in some fashion). I hope my reflections and the scans of the score-sheets I received from the competition are helpful to others interested in doing a quick Berliner.<br />
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This post describes the technique and recipe I used for my Berliner Weisse that I call "The Great Berliner." This is the first Berliner Weisse that I have ever brewed, and my Special Lady Friend and I both think it turned out really good, especially after a few weeks of cold aging. I have tasted this around in with a few of my brewing friends with mixed feedback: some noticed a slight "tinny" flavor at the back end (and I could taste this too, until I aged it further); others complained that is was too sour, or not tart enough; and then many weren't "sour people" at all, and were appalled not only by the beer I brewed but by the fact that such beers are acknowledged in style guidelines. At this last response I would usually chortle, twist my moustache, and take another sip.<br />
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To make this beer I used a "sour worting" technique that I read about in an article called "More Funk Less Fuss" by Matt Lange in the March/April 2011 issue of Zymurgy. (FYI: the American Homebrewers Association has made all back-issues of Zymurgy available to its members on its website. This alone is worth the membership fees, in my opinion.) I'll summarize the technique here, but the article does go into great detail, and discusses other beers that can be made in a similar fashion.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, you do want to add that to your beer!<br />
The lacto starter was powdery and fluffy on<br />
top. The sirplate was not stirring, but just <br />
maintaining a proper temp.</td></tr>
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First I made a sour starter using a handful of grain in some starter wort. I used aciduated malt because I had it on hand and has an increased amount of lactobacillus on the grains, and I used about a liter of 1.030ish wort. I let that sit warm for a few days until it started smelling nice and yogurty. According to the article, it helps if you keep the temperatures up in the 100º F -115º F range -- I have a heated stirplate, so this was not a problem. After a few days it should smell tart and sour. If it smells like vomit, do not use it to make beer! (This is always a good rule of thumb, regardless of what ingredient we are discussing...)<br />
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On brewday #1 I mashed and sparged as usual, using a low mash temp (148º F or so) and collected all the runnings into the boil kettle. I then heated mine to boiling to kill any organisms that may be lingering from the mash, and then cooled to ~110º F. (I've also heard of a no-boil technique of souring, where you do not kill off any bacteria or yeast in the runnings and just let them run hog-wild. I might try that next time, but I wanted to somewhat in control the first time.) When the wort was chilled to 110º F, I pitched the sour starter, which was strained to remove the floating grain still in the flask. Using a few fermwraps on the outside of my keggle, I kept it at 110º for 48 hours.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fermwraps taped to keggle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fermwraps and keggle insulated.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looks tasty, no? This is after approximately<br />
36 hours of souring.</td></tr>
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After 48 hours, the inoculated wort was starting to make our house smell like a sweet-tart factory. I tasted it and found it to be what i thought was sour enough. I took off the fermwraps, lit the burner, and proceeded with the rest of the brew. Pretty easy.<br />
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Here's recipe for the Berliner I made:<br />
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4 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 53.3 %</div>
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3 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 40.0 %</div>
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8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.7 %</div>
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0.50 oz Hallertauer [4.10 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 6.9 IBUs</div>
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Est Original Gravity: 1.034 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.033 SG</div>
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Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.008 SG</div>
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And below are the scoresheets from the first round of the NHC. (I was a bit disappointed that I did not receive feedback from a more advanced judge, but the comments on the second sheet are thorough and appreciated!)</div>
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Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-86101416740247242622013-04-21T21:48:00.001-07:002013-04-25T10:07:52.111-07:00Sweaty Bretty (brewed 4/13/2013); AND 3 things I have learned about my taste in SaisonsI started this blog when I began honing my saison skills (about a year ago), and have pretty much dialed in a "house recipe" at this point. While I do like the "classic" saisons (Dupont, certainly!), I find most commercial saisons to lack the full ester profile that these wonderful little yeasties can kick off if they are treated right. For those who know what I *really* like to drink (don't judge me!), I suppose it is also no surprise that I love the pairing of the spicy yeastiness of the saison yeasts with a earthy and fruity Brettanomyces character.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmv3roGuwbgHCjAosRMl04wPn2OhzqkJSVESv4OnhNPo40DE3C6C4-mZ6YALZTE3ou-WB_tnoWFC9Ohm-vusnob1Y_xJM31TTCzToLrLHGrSNT5Rj_ZhnS2BtvYOjPGpL7nrAaAlxdJnA/s1600/IMG_0579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmv3roGuwbgHCjAosRMl04wPn2OhzqkJSVESv4OnhNPo40DE3C6C4-mZ6YALZTE3ou-WB_tnoWFC9Ohm-vusnob1Y_xJM31TTCzToLrLHGrSNT5Rj_ZhnS2BtvYOjPGpL7nrAaAlxdJnA/s320/IMG_0579.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The basement lab set-up.</td></tr>
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Before I shoot out my basic recipe to the world for the scrutiny of all, I wanted to list three rules I've adopted for my saisons. If you've read the above paragraph, the first might not be too surprising...<br />
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<a name='more'></a>WHAT I DO:<br />
<b>1. Use Brettanomyces in some form. </b><br />
The combination of the peppery phenols of the saison yeast and the funky fruitiness of Brett really compliment one another. One of my favorite saison yeasts is White Labs 670 - American Farmhouse Blend; it has a strain of Brettanomyces Bruxelles in the vial with the Sacchromyces (a saison strain), making it an easy and affordable one-two punch. (Its said this strain was developed in conjunction with Tomme Arthur from The Lost Abbey.) I've also had really good success with adding Brett after primary fermentation. When doing this I tend to go with WLP 565 for primary (read #2...), and finish it off with WLP 645 Brettanyomes Claussennii. If you are going this latter route be sure to build in a little residual sugars in your recipe for the Brett to work on, as WLP 565 attenuates really well if treated right.<br />
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<b>2. Ferment it right, and get it HOT!</b><br />
Saisons are best when dry, and to achieve a maximum level of attenuation, you need to be ramping up your fermenting temperatures. (This is true even if you are using Brettanomyces in the secondary.) "Ramping" is the key term here -- don't start fermentation off in the mid- 80s; its important to keep initial temperatures mild to restrain fusel alcohol production during the growth phase (about the first 24 hours). Ramping is exactly what it sounds like: gradually and regularly raising the temperature to drive attenuation and ester and phenol production.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As the growth phase of the yeast completes (~24-36 hours<br />
after pitching), begin your ramping schedule. <br />
I start at 65º ambient and ramp 2º F (1.1º C) every 24 hours. </td></tr>
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Typically I pitch at 65º F (~18.3º C), as measured with a temperature controller probe taped to the outside of the carboy. Then, I raise temps by about 2º F (~1.1º C) a day until I've reached the point I want them to be. With WLP 670 I usually stop at around 86º - 88º F (30 - 31º C) or so, depending on how the beer is looking. I'll simply hold it there until primary fermentation is complete according to my gravity readings -- the beer tends to off-gas quite a bit at these temps, and airlocks are not an easy way to measure fermenting activity. I'll then rack to a keg for conditioning and secondary (read: let the Brett take over, and play that wonderful waiting game). With WLP 565 I'll typically crank into the low 90s and rest there.<br />
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<b>3. Use table sugar and aciduated malt (for the Brett). </b><br />
Because it is easily fermentable, table sugar will increase the perception of dryness in the final beer (and also increase the alcohol, of course; an ancillary benefit!). It aids in insuring your saison will attenuate, and accents the yeast esters too.<br />
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Aciduated Malt is loaded with lactic acid, and is used by some brewers to adjust mash pH. With my mellow water profile out here in Colonie, New York, I generally don't have a problem getting my water right where I want it with mini9mum adjustments using water salts, and don't use Lactic acid or aciduated malt for the purpose of adjusting mash pH. (I'll discuss my water profiule and adjustments in a future blog post, if people are interested.) I add Aciduated Malt to my saisons and 100% Brett IPAs specifically becuase Brettanomyces will take this lactic acid and convert it into some deliciously tropical-fruit-like esters (ethyl lactate). I forget where I picked up this trick, but would be willing to bet it was from either the <a href="http://www.themadfermentationist.com/" target="_blank">Mad Fermentationist</a> blog or the <a href="http://embracethefunk.com/" target="_blank">Embrace the Funk</a> interview with<a href="http://embracethefunk.com/2012/01/21/chad-yakobson-of-crooked-stave-q-a/" target="_blank"> Chad Yakobsen</a> of Crooked Stave. (I think I mention these resources in every blog post I do...I've learned a TON from reading these blogs!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In recipes with a lot of pilsner malt you definitely<br />
want an extended aggressive boil (~90 minutes)<br />
to drive off SMM, the precursor to the corny<br />
compound DMS.</td></tr>
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Those are the big three. I guess I could come up with more if I really thought about it. If you have any questions you can always hit me up in the comments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMz2WcbdOBloh1H8_pr3BQLgRxyBYC4-0U7JrzYL5_GCfbqTcIBhi1mznUtvNZw2Zjg8UvhWcnt6eb_Jtr6AQYxYJOtxG_KDOBJxzvWKfSQYLHLYFBlC7iHiWEx3YibosnXOWThxUqCsQ/s1600/IMG_0580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMz2WcbdOBloh1H8_pr3BQLgRxyBYC4-0U7JrzYL5_GCfbqTcIBhi1mznUtvNZw2Zjg8UvhWcnt6eb_Jtr6AQYxYJOtxG_KDOBJxzvWKfSQYLHLYFBlC7iHiWEx3YibosnXOWThxUqCsQ/s200/IMG_0580.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, it is supposed to look like that...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I do have a batch of saison that finished too sweet for my tastes (up around 1.017 or so). I blame this on yeast that was past the expiration date (I got it on the cheap), and my being too impatient to grow up a healthy pitch (tip #4: ALWAYS pitch enough yeast!). The good news? I used the American Farmhouse blend, so the Brett will continue to eat those dextrins. I also had some dregs of Russian River Sanctification on hand, just waiting to eat something. Guess what happened to those...sacrificed to the saison Gods! I'll check in on this batch (brewed 3/2/2013) in a month and see how its doing, but most likely it won't be ready until June at the earliest.<br />
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Here's the recipe of the saison I have bubbling away on the fermenters right now -- you'll notice its really basic, and closely resembles the <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2012/03/keep-it-crispy-slightly-soured-citra.html" target="_blank">first saison I blogged about</a> over a year ago. I've found I like simplicity in most of my yeast-driven beers:<br />
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<div class="p1">
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal<br />
Boil Size: 13.42 gal</div>
<div class="p1">
Boil Time: 90 min<br />
Equipment: Wittbrew 5000 (10 Gal/37.8 L) - All Grain</div>
<div class="p1">
End of Boil Volume: 12.22 gal<br />
Final Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal<br />
Brewhouse Efficiency: 68.00 %</div>
<div class="p1">
Est Mash Efficiency 73.2 %</div>
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<br />
<div class="p1">
15 lbs Pilsner (Best Malz) (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 60.9 %</div>
<div class="p1">
4 lbs Munich Malt (7.0 SRM) Grain 2 16.2 %</div>
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3 lbs Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 12.2 %</div>
<div class="p1">
1 lbs Acidulated (Weyermann) (1.8 SRM) Grain 4 4.1 %</div>
<div class="p1">
1.9 oz Carafa Special I (Weyermann) (320.0 SRM) Grain 5 0.5 %</div>
<div class="p1">
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6 6.1 %</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
1.00 oz Centennial [10.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 7 14.4 IBUs</div>
<div class="p1">
1.40 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 8 9.7 IBUs</div>
<div class="p1">
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.8 IBUs</div>
<div class="p1">
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs</div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
American Farmhouse Blend (White Labs #WLP670) [600 ml creamy slurry]<br />
(-OR- WLP 565 primary with Brett Clausseni secondary)</div>
</div>
Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-59550750579287178822013-04-06T19:50:00.001-07:002013-04-06T19:50:50.195-07:00The Barrel Project: The Acquisition<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTEAbTH2_D4fh5Lympl4w4m_HRb01wZ0C2EIoilrSJvk3QHpSi3V2bmM35of6AxnZlppk8kV9B3mUQI69_CgcOcXaHIakPEmQq2vIZaGspDChK0JrD0tb9u_Hwdx90AIrY1tguuaqQqD8/s1600/Hillrock+IMG_2817.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoxfVuRf8_hEbMWFI1WM6NBi47aYhgOsGUgsvddMv0g4iOBwZ7-lDaizlXPFTQ_FFeAO-_No-ULO8aD0OtC_lFatQ9zozRvt9vcPFXxVWJr7Nt6DAijd8W33bftXA5pZOqlNpZyWSHZE/s1600/Hillrock+photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijoxfVuRf8_hEbMWFI1WM6NBi47aYhgOsGUgsvddMv0g4iOBwZ7-lDaizlXPFTQ_FFeAO-_No-ULO8aD0OtC_lFatQ9zozRvt9vcPFXxVWJr7Nt6DAijd8W33bftXA5pZOqlNpZyWSHZE/s320/Hillrock+photo+4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bourbon barrels at Hillrock Distillery awaiting adoption. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is the second post in The Barrel Project series. On the back of my rather vociferous rant about the container-ship of barrels, I will post here some pictures of our trip to <a href="http://hillrockdistillery.com/" target="_blank">Hillrock Estate Distillery</a>, along with a bit of narrative. In the next post I'll provide some more details about the group nature of the project, including our decision on a recipe and some of the barrel prep.<br />
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<br />
I had been wanting to do some sort of barrel project for awhile, but never really had the space. When we moved to our luxurious new suburban rental home (replete with full basement), I knew the time was close. After getting the brewery set up and insuring all would be good with the ol' landlord, I began absorbing barreled beer knowledge that I could--by both research and osmosis.<br />
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Armed with what I felt was enough of a foundation in barrel practices, I began trolling craigslist, keeping tabs on any "barrel" or "barrels" that came up in our area. This search popped up everything from paintball gun barrels to food grade plastic barrels to Holley two-barrel carburetors. But it was fruitful -- I found a guy just south of Portland East who got barrels from Allagash after their <a href="http://www.allagash.com/beer/year-round/curieux" target="_blank">Curieux</a> sat in them for 7 weeks. They were former Jim Beam barrels, and would hold 53 gallons. Maine would be a 7 hour roundtrip drive. Sounded like a sweet deal, and from the few people I talked to with experience with these barrels. Then, by chance, I found an ad from a new distillery in the Hudson Valley, about an hour south of Albany. This was Hillrock.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjea3_4V5NnHFDN-WcuufUwUItR_W2L0pF9W-IGqutqIgnsKHnaYHhstoLBKK7P9ANV5NS49rwit3gtRnPt-7-R-qlWCpDYSA4YsHM9PxyDOfOmh4uw2V569nVqtX8DrFMhm-im-zWxY/s1600/Hillrock+photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjea3_4V5NnHFDN-WcuufUwUItR_W2L0pF9W-IGqutqIgnsKHnaYHhstoLBKK7P9ANV5NS49rwit3gtRnPt-7-R-qlWCpDYSA4YsHM9PxyDOfOmh4uw2V569nVqtX8DrFMhm-im-zWxY/s400/Hillrock+photo+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04B1E0x5NiNlJ_iD8HS7ffrD0Y-bk03K3BTLzAe_-cVIhaFwzUG-FIXbz1o7I9yV-rCsL5Lz-2O4Dv5amEcx-52WaYxotGbiGZkKjFNjjjwmpJmMcMZA7mGhl6UWKFfTeExt36lVX2QI/s1600/Hillrock+IMG_2812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh04B1E0x5NiNlJ_iD8HS7ffrD0Y-bk03K3BTLzAe_-cVIhaFwzUG-FIXbz1o7I9yV-rCsL5Lz-2O4Dv5amEcx-52WaYxotGbiGZkKjFNjjjwmpJmMcMZA7mGhl6UWKFfTeExt36lVX2QI/s320/Hillrock+IMG_2812.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The floor-malting room at Hillrock. This is <br />
where they germinate all the malt for their bourbons. <br />
The hatch leads directly into the kiln (next picture). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hillrock Distillery is pretty unique. Their whole mission is to capture the particular terroir of their little patch of the Hudson Valley, and the owners have taken great measures to do so. They grow all their barley on site, and then malt it in their custom-built floor malting facility. Modelled on old-world malthouses, the building is beautiful, and is complete with a kiln -- they claim this is the only one of its type on the continent. This malthouse sits adjacent to their distillery. The still is of a classic copper design, with a somewhat ornate column and open fermentation tanks lining the room. (Unfortunately I didn't snap any photos of the still!)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBhU-ohjsozMolo8bZ4-4DiiVTZFji18tYTsbq5b1-3iM_tElzraWLNVVC_eATwYJlWbN3q_Bnzd1REyAejc6MSserqcY6PZZ0oH8xsLAv9hwTObURenSEKD-_FN2E5FhmNv_EPGMSWY/s1600/Hillrock+IMG_2815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimBhU-ohjsozMolo8bZ4-4DiiVTZFji18tYTsbq5b1-3iM_tElzraWLNVVC_eATwYJlWbN3q_Bnzd1REyAejc6MSserqcY6PZZ0oH8xsLAv9hwTObURenSEKD-_FN2E5FhmNv_EPGMSWY/s320/Hillrock+IMG_2815.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kiln at Hillrock, with some finished malt in it. <br />
The room is a long, arched half-cylinder that sits directly <br />
below the germination room. Malting requires firing the <br />
sprouted barley to halt the germination process, <br />
reserving the sugars and enzymes for booze production.<br />
Basically, making bourbon is similar to making beer with<br />
the extra steps of distillation and barrel aging. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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As ambitious as I am in my own brewery, it would be quite a task for me to have 53 gallons of beer on hand to go into a barrel--this not including the 8+ gallons of top-up needed for evaporation through the wood. I started floating the idea to other members at the Albany Brew Crafters, and managed to rope in six others. I'll talk more about how we worked out our beer recipe and brewday, as well as finances, etc. in a future post.<br />
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The bourbon barrel is on its way to becoming a sour barrel, but it will probably take 2-3 years. especially since I began to really get into soured and funky beers about 2 years ago (summer of 2010). I got a lot of advice and encouragement from reading blogs like <a href="http://www.themadfermentationist.com/" target="_blank">The Mad Fermentationist</a>, <a href="http://www.embracethefunk.com/" target="_blank">Embrace the Funk</a>, and <a href="http://funkfactorybrewing.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Funk Factory</a>. (If you're into funky or sour beers, I really recommend checking these blogs out -- they are indispensable and contain everything from the most basic of information to the most advanced techniques! Some really good recipes and interviews with pros, too.) I take a ton of sh*t in our homebrew club for being the funky guy...I hope this is reflective of my tastes and not my smell...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N5jHPaIJ_k_zIMV6XgGchjfgXBJHjmMWV8DbLGoQJKEibh3OSvXPHRkPcSD9G6uB1A3FpJ5sOyr9cyaHZaP_r6wu0k06leWFYhyphenhyphenx4zYZpGdDhseWBnSS8DcULK5kK8m20MVqlPO6h_M/s1600/garage+barrel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6N5jHPaIJ_k_zIMV6XgGchjfgXBJHjmMWV8DbLGoQJKEibh3OSvXPHRkPcSD9G6uB1A3FpJ5sOyr9cyaHZaP_r6wu0k06leWFYhyphenhyphenx4zYZpGdDhseWBnSS8DcULK5kK8m20MVqlPO6h_M/s320/garage+barrel.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A happy father welcoming a new family member.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-15259456660856038402013-01-08T14:54:00.000-08:002013-01-18T14:09:23.445-08:00The Barrel Project: The Philosophical Implications of a Barrel...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExyO3LsITNv19HRcw8KTgGtZ982V1RxVs-L4XLvFpNUiVaj2PqFRUBM07q4736h4ForPCvBxDXL6nC1HFiQfGjbAP4Zf7p0Axh-kKwjKnTeXezrNjxoBRdowqmWV_xWBYlafxR__DzOY/s1600/Heidelberg1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExyO3LsITNv19HRcw8KTgGtZ982V1RxVs-L4XLvFpNUiVaj2PqFRUBM07q4736h4ForPCvBxDXL6nC1HFiQfGjbAP4Zf7p0Axh-kKwjKnTeXezrNjxoBRdowqmWV_xWBYlafxR__DzOY/s320/Heidelberg1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Tun" target="_blank">Heidelburg Tun</a> in Germany. A very dilute<br />
surface to liquor area... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;">"Everybody has heard of the great Heidelberg Tun, and most people have seen it, no doubt. It is a wine-cask as big as a cottage, and some traditions say it holds eighteen hundred thousand bottles, and other traditions say it holds eighteen hundred million barrels. I think it likely that one of these statements is a mistake, and the other is a lie. However, the mere matter of capacity is a thing of no sort of consequence, since the cask is empty, and indeed has always been empty, history says. An empty cask the size of a cathedral could excite but little emotion in me. I do not see any wisdom in building a monster cask to hoard up emptiness in, when you can get a better quality, outside, any day, free of expense." - Mark Twain<i>, A Tramp Abroad</i></span><br />
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I think that it is fair to say that within the past few years the oak barrel (in its various iterations and usages) has joined the hop as one of the hottest trend in the craft beer world. And for me it is almost more exciting than the hop. Here's why...<br />
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<u>The Hop:</u><br />
In the late 90s and first decade or so of the 2000s (grant me a bit of levity on these dates...history is fluid) there was a great boom in both the varieties of hops available to both home and commercial brewers. The outcome was the aromatic and intense American Pale Ales and IPAs that we love today. After the Cascade boom in the 80s and 90s (initially due to Jack McAuliffe’s New Albion Pale Ale and then Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which popularized and arguably redefined the way that we think about the place of the hop as a component in beers), the now iconic combination of Simcoe (released in 2000) and Amarillo (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amarillo_hops" target="_blank">discovered growing "wild" in a commercial hop field in the late 90s, and then cultivated</a>) has come to be almost a signature of these beers. This is not to say that hops are and were not a prominent component in traditional beer styles, but that from a stylistic standpoint such beers tend to have a narrower definition of what proper or ideal hop character is -- a noble hop presence in pilsners, for instance, or a mellowed fruity bitterness in English IPAs. Over the past 20 years especially American craft brewers and hop cultivars have really been pushing at the edge of consumer's tolerance to this ingredient, inventing not only <a href="http://www.ahaconference.org/seminars/new-hop-varieties/" target="_blank">new strains</a> and innovative techniques (constant hopping, mash / first wort hopping, whirlpooling) for use, but new technologies as well--the <a href="http://www.dogfish.com/company/tangents/randall-the-enamel-animal.htm" target="_blank">Randall</a>, the <a href="http://bairdbeer.com/en/blog_numazu/files/2011/04/07-Torpedo1.jpg" target="_blank">torpedo</a>, increased whirlpool hopping--and with <a href="http://russianriverbrewing.com/brews/pliny-the-elder/" target="_blank">amazing results</a>, to boot.<br />
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So after this rant, please understand -- I'm a lupilin junkie just as much as the next West-Coaster (I'm sipping one of my seasonal favorites, <a href="http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html" target="_blank">Celebration</a>, right now).<br />
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<u>The Barrel:</u><br />
But to me, the relationship between barrels and a beer is something different; something far more romantic and alchemic. To begin, think of the inceptive utilitarian relationship between barrels and beer. Barrels were first and foremost a vessel for transport, a means for containment necessary for distribution of this social beverage to the masses. Much heavier and unwieldy than our contemporary stainless steel kegs, even an average sized barrel (today this is ~200 liters or 53 US gallons; I am unsure of the historical volumetric ranges of barrels but I would guess they were larger), when filled with a "light" liquid such as water, weighs in at over 500 pounds (225 kilos). Yet even these smaller behemoths were durable and able to be rolled, and were the most efficient way to bring many goods--both liquid and dried--to trade-markets, across oceans, or over continents.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TE1iVywCQWptSkNgkowWkWwNQciRgItU9g5dSGB69-AG90u2mCxUgdnX2yv2HDY-Tgiop5fCUw0rr_Rpjw3AvzfHtshpumca1fzaxg9PGR0IgZ3Bpsmyab59C-h65LoUijcb_om4QTE/s1600/cooper_detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_TE1iVywCQWptSkNgkowWkWwNQciRgItU9g5dSGB69-AG90u2mCxUgdnX2yv2HDY-Tgiop5fCUw0rr_Rpjw3AvzfHtshpumca1fzaxg9PGR0IgZ3Bpsmyab59C-h65LoUijcb_om4QTE/s320/cooper_detail.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What're you <i>staving </i>at? Coopers coopering.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
All this to say that with the exception of producers of intentionally aged beers (lambic, gueze, and other sours, for instance), brewers predominantly desired the barrel to be a passive component in the beer making process, and took measures to make these vessels as inert as possible, covering them with wax, or tarring the inside. Barrels were not intended to impart flavor to beers. As packaging technologies advanced, and an understanding of beer spoilage began to emerge a the beginning of the 20th century, however, barrels were quickly abandoned for vessels that would both block oxygen permeation and prevent leeching of tannins into the beverage. Similar to the hop, this relationship has drastically evolved, and now it is not just the lambic-teers that are heading this evolution.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQXD1j4O-SazRhAYtEsQrvWZTk96IZJZf_NoMuqjsAnk3t0Z9a_oNWmuh00Yi6fCElK5zcmKDlf9pPveQ8FiFlwpp396rwf4ekOpXc5GS8XmRM9exFFgST1WsDFCCUeAasNDyzSPcWVE/s1600/845px-Cooper_Tightening_Staves_on_a_Barrel_by_Jean-Franc%CC%A7ois_Millet,_c._1848-52.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMQXD1j4O-SazRhAYtEsQrvWZTk96IZJZf_NoMuqjsAnk3t0Z9a_oNWmuh00Yi6fCElK5zcmKDlf9pPveQ8FiFlwpp396rwf4ekOpXc5GS8XmRM9exFFgST1WsDFCCUeAasNDyzSPcWVE/s320/845px-Cooper_Tightening_Staves_on_a_Barrel_by_Jean-Franc%CC%A7ois_Millet,_c._1848-52.JPG" width="264" /></a>As most drinkers know, barrels have shed their reputation as mere vessels to transport liquids. Barrels now offer something far more versatile than ever envisioned in the past, and can introduce widely varying approaches to beer. The vessel has now moved to transporting and transmitting certain flavors into the beer; in a remarkable inversion of historical purposing, what is contained in that barrel is not so much the liquid per-se, but the potentials of the barrel itself. Barrel-aging a beer in an used spirit barrel can impart some amazing flavors--tannic greens, richer vanillas, dark fruits, rums, earthiness, etc. But in addition to wood and spiritual by-products (couldn't resist that...), barrels are more and more used to house <i>life</i>! A barrel happens to be a perfect vessel to cultivate and maintain cultures of brewing microorganisms that make deliciously intricate and delicate beers. Similar to <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2012/02/brewing-kombucha.html" target="_blank">Kombucha SCOBYs</a>, barrels can hold symbiotic cultures of yeasts and bacterias: brettanomyces, sacchromyces, pediococcus, and lactobacillus. (Sure, its bacterial and fungal life, but it is still LIFE!) This is a traditional practice in making lambics and sours, but, as similar to innovations in hop technologies and usages, are being put into practice in new and interesting ways. (Check out, for instance <a href="http://www.crookedstave.com/" target="_blank">Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project</a> in Denver. Delicious.)<br />
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Even beyond these utilitarian purposes, there is a certain level of mystique and romance in a barrel as an artifact. Similar to secrecy amongst other craftsmen, there was a level of lore cautiously guarded by barrel coopers. As containers, barrels sustained life at sea, holding hard-tack, rum, and, of course, beer; they appear across literature, packing the <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=J-BSEOxxvCoC&pg=PA381&lpg=PA381&dq=moby+dick+barrel&source=bl&ots=5hzCLiEQdh&sig=JstiLO5EOZx8DgpArTv2GM3wOkc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=IY_sULvsGvO90QGYh4DgDA&ved=0CG0Q6AEwCQ#v=snippet&q=barrels&f=false" target="_blank">holds of the Pequod</a>, and populating <a href="http://www.twainquotes.com/Heidelberg.html" target="_blank">the pages of Mark Twain</a>; and they have even protected man in some of <a href="http://www.niagarafallslive.com/daredevils_of_niagara_falls.htm" target="_blank">his most idiotic moments</a>. They're big, wooden and beautiful.<br />
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This long-winded is basically to announce that a number of us at the <a href="http://www.albanybrewcrafters.com/" target="_blank">Albany Brew Crafters</a> have acquired a bourbon barrel of our own. Its a 53 gallon once-used bourbon barrel from <a href="http://hillrockdistillery.com/" target="_blank">Hillrock Estate Distillery</a> in the Hudson Valley. Stay tuned for more on this fun and exciting project, including our Russian Imperial Stout recipe, and the challenges of using a barrel at home.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8xOscf6fzj4MZR8FmaAtgqHd2eLl2lcT7V-omXEdIpjIOG_FawLvOiO75JDrXO9Rh9ysMxpkbmCy1NHzDx4ZGKXOJIxyt4YcTtmIcOjKVy9LwRkILcOjBle6kG9JSUHlo8dpCIbUx6w/s1600/6894896164_4bb24b9aef_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH8xOscf6fzj4MZR8FmaAtgqHd2eLl2lcT7V-omXEdIpjIOG_FawLvOiO75JDrXO9Rh9ysMxpkbmCy1NHzDx4ZGKXOJIxyt4YcTtmIcOjKVy9LwRkILcOjBle6kG9JSUHlo8dpCIbUx6w/s400/6894896164_4bb24b9aef_b.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The barrel aging program at Goose Island Brewery in Chicago.<br />
This is part of a <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpkiser/page153/" target="_blank">wonderful photo set</a> taken by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mpkiser/" target="_blank">Michael Kiser,</a> on Flickr.</td></tr>
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Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-6485797817530827372012-03-19T15:20:00.000-07:002013-01-09T05:15:53.929-08:00Keep it Crispy: Slightly Soured Citra Saison with Peppercorns<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiYer1InYP1Mk8E1upwgfW7iYn_NIOXZIV0H-mz-ahmQYbdO5JmIlKIufyUF18ud7mTyqpJkF-WuCxEvhmzK3_zwZeukmY-FtD1gjBr8fuogg0ASQNCbwrpt4h2zgJNHI0eoC-tTD3s0/s1600/pot-stove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiYer1InYP1Mk8E1upwgfW7iYn_NIOXZIV0H-mz-ahmQYbdO5JmIlKIufyUF18ud7mTyqpJkF-WuCxEvhmzK3_zwZeukmY-FtD1gjBr8fuogg0ASQNCbwrpt4h2zgJNHI0eoC-tTD3s0/s320/pot-stove.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coca-cola my ass! What's missing is a nice porter...<br />
it could be sitting right there...</td></tr>
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Battling a drafty house and consuming porter for warmth, I've recently been planning the nice crispy beers I will be drinking to slake my thirst during the summer. Although not a strict votary when it comes to drinking, I do find my year to be divided into two brewing seasons that correspond to my schedule at the university: richer malt-forward beers in late summer, fall and early winter (the "fall semester," in prep for the alcoholic hibernations of winter break); and drier, crisper beers in late winter, spring, and early summer (the "spring semester," gearing up for the horseshoe tournaments and canoe trips of summer).<br />
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While mid-winter is made for cast-iron stoves and comfort food, mid-summer (as Shakespeare has taught us) is for free-wheeling adventures and drinking in quantity with reunited friends. It being spring semester, I'm in prep mode for crispy summer drinking.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Translate, "Saison Dupont"<br />
means "nectar of the Gods."<br />
No, really...</td></tr>
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In addition to the occasional <a href="http://zephyrfermentedbeverages.blogspot.com/2012/03/enchanted-silver-bullet-keeping-coors.html" target="_blank">enchanted silver bullet</a>, in the summer I've always turned to pale ales and wheat beers. Over the last few "drinking cycles," however, I have come to discover that I really love me a good saison (I blame you, <a href="http://www.brasserie-dupont.com/dupont/en/6967-saison-dupont.html" target="_blank">Saison Dupont</a>!). The peppery, citrusy tartness and dry finish are able to cut the humid days of the northeast, or to spritz the oppressive dry heat of Northern California and Central Oregon, depending on where my summer finds me. Also, the relatively high alcohol content (5-7%) perfectly accentuates that summertime feel.<br />
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When thinking crisp, I think effervescent with a dry finish. The beer does not have to be tannic or uber-bitter to be crisp, but rather finish clean and dry and leave you excited for more. It should be light to medium bodied, with little or no creaminess.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I *think* I have a couple ways to design "crisp" into a beer, as well as some technical consideration on brew day. </span>I wanted to avoid too heavy of a mouthfeel, so <span style="font-family: inherit;">my malt bill should avoid heavy additions of caramel/cara-</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> malts (which contribute unfermentable "dextrinous" </span>sugars), and wheat malt (which contributes proteins that enhance mouthfeel and head retention). If I'm looking to go really dry, I'll add some simple sugars (cane, corn, beet, etc.) to take the final gravity down below 1.010. Knowing me, I'll probably want a perceptible level of hop bitterness, although not too much of a lingering syrupy or resiny character (adjustable to style). Because I build my water from scratch from reverse-osmosis, and <a href="http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter15-2.html" target="_blank">soft water is good for clean, crisp beers</a>, I don't need to add much in the way of brewing salts. On brew day, my mash temp will be around or below 150, <a href="http://www.howtobrew.com/images/f79.gif" target="_blank">emphasizing beta-amalyse</a> and creating a more fermentable wort.<br />
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<u><b>A Beer of Firsts</b></u><br />
So let's talk about my saison. Despite my proclivity for consuming saisons, this is the first that I have ever brewed. While I do enjoy the traditional, I wanted to spin it a bit (that way I still have an excuse to drink more Chambly). I was hoping to go with some Sorachi Ace to give it a nice lemony flavor, but could not source them anywhere. So, on a whim at the <a href="https://www.beerbrew.com/" target="_blank">LHBS</a>, I opted for Citra. I have never brewed with Citra, either (although I have had <a href="http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/torpedo.html" target="_blank">Sierra Nevada's Torpedo Ale</a>), and didn't recall their tropical properties until I did a bit of research after the fact. "Less citrusy, more tropical" is what they tell me. "We'll see" I say back to them..."We'll see."<br />
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I've also been rather interested in sour beers lately. So, I've been sipping them when I run across them and reading around on others' blogs (see links), but I have never brewed one. Basically I've been living my sour life vicariously through other brave souls. I saw on the kick-ass <a href="http://embracethefunk.com/" target="_blank">Embrace the Funk</a> blog that White Labs has released their <a href="http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp670.html" target="_blank">American Farmhouse Blend</a> year-round. They tell me this blend couples all the funky spicy goodness with a nice tart sourness from Brettanomyces. "We'll see" I say back to them..."We'll see."<br />
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I enlisted my buddy Alex from <a href="http://www.thoroughbrews.org/" target="_blank">The Saratoga Thoroughbrews</a> to split a batch with me (he apparently has a lot of faith!). He suggested we throw in some peppercorns for good measure. Pink and black, just to get a nice rounded peppery character. They haven't really told me anything about peppercorns, so I guess I'll have to tell them.<br />
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I'm all in: First saison. First citra. First sour. First peppercorns. Virgin territory all around...<br />
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Here's the malt bill I came up with: Hop schedule: (AAU = AA% x oz.)<br />
(64%) 16 lbs. Belgian Pilsner 60 min - 5 AAU Kent Goldings Pellets<br />
(16%) 4 lbs. Munich 10*L 20 min - 13.6 AAU Citra Pellets<br />
(11%) 2.65 lbs Wheat Malt 5 min - 13.6 AAU Citra Pellets<br />
(1%) .25 lb Caramunich I (43*L) 0 min - 13.6 AAU Citra Pellets<br />
(8%) 2 lbs. Cane Sugar<br />
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Mash @ 148*, 90 min boil.<br />
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Original Gravity: 1.065<br />
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Pitched 2.5 liter stirplate starter from White Labs WLP 670 - American Farmhouse Ale (w/ Brettanomyces - unsure of strain). It took off like a freight train.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIB06Enmd9t4BiKqzRiIMZB64rRUroBuvrwhirX3ekIYIDa-PTmGx2q5p3rphy1vlQKOGNxcyDOGr-DfbYvI98PqdtVOlnAXYcqM5ILrysNScs7zbUMOaHXOhvg1sQWj86Fv_sI913os/s1600/12hrs+67deg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIB06Enmd9t4BiKqzRiIMZB64rRUroBuvrwhirX3ekIYIDa-PTmGx2q5p3rphy1vlQKOGNxcyDOGr-DfbYvI98PqdtVOlnAXYcqM5ILrysNScs7zbUMOaHXOhvg1sQWj86Fv_sI913os/s400/12hrs+67deg.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 hours after pitch -- beer @ 65*, <br />
and bubbling away happily.</td></tr>
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<b>Fermentation schedule: </b><br />
Pitch at 65*, let rise to 67* on the 2nd day.<br />
3rd day 70*... Increase by 2* daily until it hits 85*, then hold until desired FG (2 weeks)<br />
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At 13 days the beer had dropped to 1.010, 84.6% apparent attenuation, 6.8% ABV. Pretty good, considering the brett hasn't really done all its work yet!<br />
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I chilled it to 40* for 2 days to drop the yeast, and racked half of it into a keg for Alex, and the other half into a carboy for me. I'll let the Brett do its work for a couple months, tasting periodically, and probably drink the keg around the end of July. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixFKX84ycP1FG2txR5tyTPcEELAZs856jyiB1pHVSKgY6YKHEm-n7vz6HUzsuFpEabUcdlc4q2NpqyeEzFfnBtNE-DxI9zIpnur1Tyn3GcUVTODq8AajeBDtNwq7_XsuEJFaYxhxcvzs/s1600/9days+85deg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiixFKX84ycP1FG2txR5tyTPcEELAZs856jyiB1pHVSKgY6YKHEm-n7vz6HUzsuFpEabUcdlc4q2NpqyeEzFfnBtNE-DxI9zIpnur1Tyn3GcUVTODq8AajeBDtNwq7_XsuEJFaYxhxcvzs/s320/9days+85deg.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">**Yeastgasm!**<br />
This is at 85*, about 9 days into fermentation.<br />
You can see the condensation on the <br />
inside of the carboy. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglnb0Jvg1e15j9vCZ32ylTs3XzHRxmVsk1-c7gJwanElVfOOjg-tmwH_Up4L6deAHmXE92tRUdPnm5kBJYgLcBM53a7vaLhYbplOz9mrMQWmh5hZBRFz1M7IyOXgpsDy9BqVMcmTxX2U/s1600/9days+85deg2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjglnb0Jvg1e15j9vCZ32ylTs3XzHRxmVsk1-c7gJwanElVfOOjg-tmwH_Up4L6deAHmXE92tRUdPnm5kBJYgLcBM53a7vaLhYbplOz9mrMQWmh5hZBRFz1M7IyOXgpsDy9BqVMcmTxX2U/s320/9days+85deg2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There was a slimy looking yeasty film on top, <br />
and quite a bit of yeast clung to the sides, <br />
even after cold crashing. <br />
This yeast / Brett blend is a beast! </td></tr>
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One of the issues with a beer of firsts is that I am trusting myself to isolate the flavors that each ingredient contributes. I'm hoping that with my limited background with sour beer that this will not be a problem, although I can see the tropical Citra flavors kinda melding into the Saison character a bit. I'm also unsure how much hop character will actually be present after so long of a secondary...<br />
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Stay tuned to find out! Tasting notes to follow!Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-67461948503629669662012-03-15T15:17:00.000-07:002012-03-15T22:10:34.321-07:00The Enchanted Silver Bullet: Keeping Coors Light ClassyRound about 10 years ago a legendary, now-forgotten, shaman-schwiller of cheap beers introduced me to a method "enchanting" my silver bullets. I have no idea the origin of this spell, nor have I the desire to take the effort to research (google) it. It would be interesting to know if any readers have heard of this technique, so do leave a response. The effect is, well, flavor.<br />
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Forgive me Gambrinus, for I have sinned. It has been a thirty-pack since my last confession...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliL9q4oYFk-q3zcaUuqZjh6nEKUUpl8NR_kVTfpfQIP0xupAcwOU_AgLs1r4IF9MrFSnArjUWTudE-t1MLUb9SirWvWTLU6Ns9uwE0EB8NoB8AMJKWDLV76fHxDrCD-9UDeowcD8zstc/s1600/0+-+c+minus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliL9q4oYFk-q3zcaUuqZjh6nEKUUpl8NR_kVTfpfQIP0xupAcwOU_AgLs1r4IF9MrFSnArjUWTudE-t1MLUb9SirWvWTLU6Ns9uwE0EB8NoB8AMJKWDLV76fHxDrCD-9UDeowcD8zstc/s320/0+-+c+minus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Next stop -- Flavor Country!</td></tr>
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I confess that I have a special place in my heart for Coors. I grew into a drinker favoring their Banquet Beer, and still find myself tapping the rockies frequently during summers. I love the aesthetic of their cans, love the feel of a beer-laden koozie in my hand, and never get tired of "silver bullet jokes" (its the only thing that can <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20080716113324/http://www.passedoutwookies.com/" target="_blank">stop a wook</a>!). I am not claiming that it is the finest beverage on the planet, nor am I attempting to persuade you to become a Coors drinker (honest!). Rather, I am confessing that (for me) there is a time and a place for affordable light beers to be drunk in mass quantities, and Coors fits the bill.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A delicious classy treat!<br />
Ignore the projects in the background...</td></tr>
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The elements to this spell are simple, and readily available. You will need:<br />
1 can of Coors Light in a koozie (so cold that the rockies are blue!)<br />
A bottle of Tapatio brand hot-sauce<br />
1 slice of lime<br />
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First you are going to release the pressure from the headspace of the can by venting it gently. Don't fully open the beer, just vent the can:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9wypNkhUALrWR7RzU7PgyRfIfNSRy_ACd_mwyMPi0zJdzNCkQZS7sA6jVeWTUWI1FLgSdRtyXoauLmb8ysqMKGJ0MRmkyXFNIe9vpl51TeWTY8_FZinrYMlZqdOISVRFmoR74GCp-64/s1600/2+-+Vented.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib9wypNkhUALrWR7RzU7PgyRfIfNSRy_ACd_mwyMPi0zJdzNCkQZS7sA6jVeWTUWI1FLgSdRtyXoauLmb8ysqMKGJ0MRmkyXFNIe9vpl51TeWTY8_FZinrYMlZqdOISVRFmoR74GCp-64/s320/2+-+Vented.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who knew Rocky Mountain water was effervescent?</td></tr>
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Next, add a good size drop of Tapatio to the flap of the can. Its alright if its a little sloppy -- it will all end up in the beer:</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXE8EUfFHooGLdZnnF2nsI7dOSUIzkmzhy0XrqrWThZ39blM3wL4GjU8fS9jNIyPNkF1mStMHECTyCSme5472aK_1weS0uQzx_SPg_bcGWmHmhi9e3-IYKpsBe1eibvb-MOcpoS-P6ZY/s1600/3+-+Dollop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioXE8EUfFHooGLdZnnF2nsI7dOSUIzkmzhy0XrqrWThZ39blM3wL4GjU8fS9jNIyPNkF1mStMHECTyCSme5472aK_1weS0uQzx_SPg_bcGWmHmhi9e3-IYKpsBe1eibvb-MOcpoS-P6ZY/s320/3+-+Dollop.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tappa tappa tappa...!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Third, squeeze the lime slice to fill the reservoir and lid of the can. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrF2SYxS4gzgvz39yGrzzRr74WHNhkqDb66OjDZRfXWALB9SFCuLHko7XvX0BRT8gSNcTg01d2Ib-MUfx237tTpyEaJgO_J98gD9u0OaNRYID3tPkSK2xnJ8X6YxOhNRiS384UBsg5xo/s1600/4+-+Lime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrF2SYxS4gzgvz39yGrzzRr74WHNhkqDb66OjDZRfXWALB9SFCuLHko7XvX0BRT8gSNcTg01d2Ib-MUfx237tTpyEaJgO_J98gD9u0OaNRYID3tPkSK2xnJ8X6YxOhNRiS384UBsg5xo/s320/4+-+Lime.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The step I skipped is cleaning your reservoir.<br />
You did that anyway, right?</td></tr>
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Finally, say a short incantation, deep-six the potion into the beer by cracking the tab, and take a sip. The first sip is always the best.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCYVizMuMJHcUlRmUzr95z1C3GItuzBRNzPKRLgF3_djbDLgIkQrfyUqX5-_o34JyA2v5mncibPU_LfOjZ9PXS-_PBeapsT7yTTvDjK14rrhfnG1jrp08GD3v3UBqS1hz2V8siEDRl40/s1600/5+-+Enjoy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCYVizMuMJHcUlRmUzr95z1C3GItuzBRNzPKRLgF3_djbDLgIkQrfyUqX5-_o34JyA2v5mncibPU_LfOjZ9PXS-_PBeapsT7yTTvDjK14rrhfnG1jrp08GD3v3UBqS1hz2V8siEDRl40/s320/5+-+Enjoy.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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Ahhh, refreshment. Best enjoyed in quantity, out-of-doors. Cheers!<br />
<br />Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-47075475804811169422012-03-08T15:43:00.000-08:002012-03-15T13:37:19.415-07:00Glüten-Tag! - Malting Buckwheat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Rhpgbi_yl-MTYzlA0HrpRvNrEGX2NwURw7MrZjpFHSjU9Tlso6uRI1UsPbI26gTFsO1c6an8Z5o2jF41kXdDz80hMtztPb1bnfvhKmK35gllTtnBbOJQNhk5vCppjjOAuU_cy7hX_4w/s1600/EQUIPMENT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Rhpgbi_yl-MTYzlA0HrpRvNrEGX2NwURw7MrZjpFHSjU9Tlso6uRI1UsPbI26gTFsO1c6an8Z5o2jF41kXdDz80hMtztPb1bnfvhKmK35gllTtnBbOJQNhk5vCppjjOAuU_cy7hX_4w/s200/EQUIPMENT.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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In an attempt to design a more "beery" gluten-free beer, the Special Lady-Friend (SLF) and I turned to buckwheat. I first heard about brewing with buckwheat on a <a href="http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/824" target="_blank">Sunday Session podcast</a> on <a href="http://thebrewingnetwork.com/" target="_blank">The Brewing Network</a> (an excellent resource for all things brewing), and then followed the directions for malting the buckwheat found on Jon Plise's <a href="http://www.glutenfreecraftbeer.com/" target="_blank">website</a>. This post is meant to document my process, while providing a redacted step-by-step how-to. Be sure to check out Jon's site for more extensive (and aesthetically pleasing) instructions.<br />
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You can buy roasted buckwheat (<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bobs-Red-Mill-Buckwheat-18-Ounce/dp/B000EDI1O0/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1330796191&sr=1-2" target="_blank">kasha</a>) to add flavor and color to a beer, but, because it has not been malted, it will not contribute a significant amount of fermentables. We're looking to avoid the "sorghummy" sweet-spice flavor--the idea is to replace a portion of the sorghum syrup with malted buckwheat. The malting process develops enzymes needed to convert the starches in the cereal grain to fermentable sugars. Although it is a "pseudo-cereal," buckwheat can be malted in a similar manner as barley, and, from what I could learn, has enough diastatic power to convert (which means it contains enough enzymatic potential to process its starches into sugars)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9ACLAURmjk3Xl5otTgwX8-vlfp95A0grVxskCIivtjL395qXCWuZTiPCNPRyzLg25PAX2oFA_zo4hha_NbEd5lfc34oVRvRmrSRPwOCYTtxINOKE38hjo7Rd5U6iykkFNyYYycomkjg/s1600/BWHEAT+SCALE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK9ACLAURmjk3Xl5otTgwX8-vlfp95A0grVxskCIivtjL395qXCWuZTiPCNPRyzLg25PAX2oFA_zo4hha_NbEd5lfc34oVRvRmrSRPwOCYTtxINOKE38hjo7Rd5U6iykkFNyYYycomkjg/s200/BWHEAT+SCALE.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ewww! Groats!</td></tr>
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Although I've heard mention of buying commercially malted buckwheat, I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. (If you have a source, please let me know!) We decided to malt our own. We went to the local food co-op and picked up a couple of pounds of buckwheat groats (about $2 a pound). In this first trial, we did a small batch to get the process down. I weighed the grain to mark the difference from groat to the malted buckwheat. You can see I went with 2 pounds to start.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbpe3P68yoy0Vuuwot12aSt9lf_ostLU85pyHRw3Jaz_5B-dWnj8ipyWX84QF1tbYndtpkTZmlOn8A-Zv1pOli_a4v4f9CocnrSFsZ9xEgxqR-AVcmGhnUjwGwFRCMZe8NXtYq8C5D1k/s1600/BWHEAT+BAG.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbpe3P68yoy0Vuuwot12aSt9lf_ostLU85pyHRw3Jaz_5B-dWnj8ipyWX84QF1tbYndtpkTZmlOn8A-Zv1pOli_a4v4f9CocnrSFsZ9xEgxqR-AVcmGhnUjwGwFRCMZe8NXtYq8C5D1k/s200/BWHEAT+BAG.jpg" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is that a bag of buckwheat, <br />
or are you just happy to see me?</td></tr>
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We put the raw buckwheat groats in a hop bag, thinking that this would be the easiest way to separate them later, after soaking. I like to think it did, and will do this next time, although we'll need a bigger bag.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinlvwbl1Ihc_tVLWB-KsrqpV5axje6BUiGvYO_3G1rJLuh7h99PqSUbxcYnYHB8SkU7AGQKZv7WHz7CpApMJ4mHSj7Z3zEkSmxwumW_0EgRa6DQmC3zd6xN5YZY99EwGUDq-Id6Pol5M/s1600/BWHEAT+BUCKET.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjinlvwbl1Ihc_tVLWB-KsrqpV5axje6BUiGvYO_3G1rJLuh7h99PqSUbxcYnYHB8SkU7AGQKZv7WHz7CpApMJ4mHSj7Z3zEkSmxwumW_0EgRa6DQmC3zd6xN5YZY99EwGUDq-Id6Pol5M/s200/BWHEAT+BUCKET.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soak it, groats!</td></tr>
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We covered the hop bag full of groats with about 4 inches of water in a clean bucket and let it soak for about 36 hours. After a couple hours, the water had a pinkish hue and was really slimy. Every 6-8 hours (every time we were making a meal) we would dump the water, rinse the bag with the sprayer on my sink, and refill the bucket.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiOkLgYrGXrLIjk0UA77bbRr9MjAVSd9PifAuYiQStSwCPXavFYqGWu1j7UtkbES7R9sdgk8dKxDJBP8NtsgLuL_bOhlqe6C9ITOEmNwT4Bmf51rSclHlQ4NxV-HnqDJSJEgcldGqQls/s1600/sprouting+tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiOkLgYrGXrLIjk0UA77bbRr9MjAVSd9PifAuYiQStSwCPXavFYqGWu1j7UtkbES7R9sdgk8dKxDJBP8NtsgLuL_bOhlqe6C9ITOEmNwT4Bmf51rSclHlQ4NxV-HnqDJSJEgcldGqQls/s200/sprouting+tray.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ghetto-sprouter <br />
model 650. The 700 comes<br />
with much nicer towels.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiOkLgYrGXrLIjk0UA77bbRr9MjAVSd9PifAuYiQStSwCPXavFYqGWu1j7UtkbES7R9sdgk8dKxDJBP8NtsgLuL_bOhlqe6C9ITOEmNwT4Bmf51rSclHlQ4NxV-HnqDJSJEgcldGqQls/s1600/sprouting+tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxiOkLgYrGXrLIjk0UA77bbRr9MjAVSd9PifAuYiQStSwCPXavFYqGWu1j7UtkbES7R9sdgk8dKxDJBP8NtsgLuL_bOhlqe6C9ITOEmNwT4Bmf51rSclHlQ4NxV-HnqDJSJEgcldGqQls/s1600/sprouting+tray.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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We put the soaked groats on a couple of cookie sheets to germinate. You will notice we used some of our fine dish linens to line the sheets. In hindsight this was unnecessary, and we lost a bit of the sproutlings because they stuck to the towels (read: don't do it!). We also covered the groats with dishtowels to limit the amount of dust and other nasties that may land on them. That worked well, and you should cover them with something. We sprayed the groats with water 2-3 times a day to keep them moist and sprouting. Whenever we sprayed them, we stirred them as well, to make sure they were watered evenly.</div>
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Here's a progression of EXTREME close-ups. Prepare (steel) yourself:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeYkyb93WYCWUeyHpiGWeeiUcBl-7Lh-qH3210nrsopBvpEEiIBAO5l87dHL1AGjfq20wet48fuYRu7P1WQIcVXLqn15R4KwWtOo2_8fYVl4L5RbMaB-FjYnFNozBr_WT8lu0vTWHKv0/s1600/sprout+bwheat1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfeYkyb93WYCWUeyHpiGWeeiUcBl-7Lh-qH3210nrsopBvpEEiIBAO5l87dHL1AGjfq20wet48fuYRu7P1WQIcVXLqn15R4KwWtOo2_8fYVl4L5RbMaB-FjYnFNozBr_WT8lu0vTWHKv0/s640/sprout+bwheat1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is after about 36 hours on our ghetto sprouting tray. You can see little white acrospires starting to emerge from the groats. They sure are cute when they're young!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU6opCm5PGCzzIO6d8wHv4I3NiVrr7sXJEa7gIdBAZT-U3DJQyH-MHMEyqoCZS2EZmGRRAB_lbAAgPBsFRVQgIbsAKMO3VctfNLTvjjjj0ZewNXontCd0b6s_Nl5x8hig2a7ajM4RSMM/s1600/sprouted+bwheat2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzU6opCm5PGCzzIO6d8wHv4I3NiVrr7sXJEa7gIdBAZT-U3DJQyH-MHMEyqoCZS2EZmGRRAB_lbAAgPBsFRVQgIbsAKMO3VctfNLTvjjjj0ZewNXontCd0b6s_Nl5x8hig2a7ajM4RSMM/s640/sprouted+bwheat2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is about 4 days after we begun germinating the groats. I read somewhere you want the acrospire (the shoots) to be at least 2/3 the length of the groat (or kernel, seed). According to that stat, these are ready to be dried out.</td></tr>
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In order to preserve the malted buckwheat you need to remove all the moisture from the groats, otherwise they could mold up on you, adding nice musty overtone to your beer. To dehumidify these bad-boys, we took them off the towels and put the two cookie sheets in the oven on the "warm" setting. Stirring it every hour, we were looking for the acrospires to shrivel and brown a bit, so that they will be brittle, making them easy to remove. Also, the groats themselves will be easily powdered by chewing them (not steely, or hard, as they were before malting). We determined it takes about 3 hours to dry out 2 pounds. This, of course, will vary depending on the amount of layering of the malted groats in the pan, the moisture content of the groats after malting (ours were barely moist to the touch), the mass of groats that you are kilning, and your oven temperature.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGtO72CWR2HOMGecVHadVC4N0N1IeMGt9Pd0XiwMk_5LacjoW1XgGwmAAR6MAD8qrlDoFICV5bEL_1NmIRBnFwhnoIe9Y5O1mJDJAxUjxXU1dfmHDZV5V6QxL1kjMxMy6JXWBCGFvRZQ/s1600/dried+bwheat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGtO72CWR2HOMGecVHadVC4N0N1IeMGt9Pd0XiwMk_5LacjoW1XgGwmAAR6MAD8qrlDoFICV5bEL_1NmIRBnFwhnoIe9Y5O1mJDJAxUjxXU1dfmHDZV5V6QxL1kjMxMy6JXWBCGFvRZQ/s640/dried+bwheat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They were still just sprouts and you threw them in your oven? You MONSTER!</td></tr>
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The final step in preparing the buckwheat for kilning is to remove the acrospire. There are as many approaches to doing this as there are in skinning cats, although (as we all know from our cat skinning days) some work better than others. I have read that using a <a href="http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art69403.asp" target="_blank">pillowcase in a clothes dryer</a> works well, but I have a brewery instead of laundry facilities, and I don't think that the laundromat's staff would approve. Besides, I don't know if I want to be putting any laundromat lint in my beer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4z4Tm-P106cVizxAqwJiHtA8F3fBji5y_Qc7PPWW45RnL8BGP__hIGg9NOKUhhWkydXb6OFrZ4cYEtMjtltxxzsrF-qvE6mQ1E8PHVB9OWorg6c_ghR6-K_QS47RmsqDMd5cJOY4p-bI/s1600/deacro1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4z4Tm-P106cVizxAqwJiHtA8F3fBji5y_Qc7PPWW45RnL8BGP__hIGg9NOKUhhWkydXb6OFrZ4cYEtMjtltxxzsrF-qvE6mQ1E8PHVB9OWorg6c_ghR6-K_QS47RmsqDMd5cJOY4p-bI/s320/deacro1.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We offer the finest buckwheat hand massages,<br />
you can even keep your acrospires!</td></tr>
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Instead, I put my dried malted groats back into the hop bag and rolled it around on the counter in a "kneading-the-dough" motion for about 5 minutes or so. This seemed pretty effective, although it is rather hands-on and not as easy as tying them in a pillowcase and throwing them in a dryer...<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">To be honest, this made quite a mess (as do many methods of skinning cats), and I don't know if I'd want to do this with any more than 2 pounds of buckwheat. Next time I will probably just trade a couple beers to do a load of buckwheat in a buddy's dryer. Yes, there was an innuendo in there.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckwheat kief.</td></tr>
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So that's it for the malting of buckwheat. At the end of the process I threw the dried malted groats back on the scale -- they weighed 1 pound 12 ounces, so I lost about a quarter pound of weight in a 2 pound batch, or 12.5%. I'll use this as a guideline next time I malt up some groats.<br />
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The next step is to roast our malted buckwheat to different levels, with the thought of adding a range of tastes to our hopefully beery gluten free beer. With only one and three-quarter pounds to play around with, we will only be making 3 gallons of beer in this first experimental batch, and will definitely need to use some other ingredients. I'll cover both the kilning and the design and brewday in future posts. Cheers!Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-77625301428494478472012-03-02T09:42:00.004-08:002013-01-09T05:44:33.822-08:00Glüten-Tag!: The Gluten-Free Beer Project<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0b8dBcv7rfud8DKYdDzqgEuT3xQ3oPj2Co4Elq5MpC3Qjscw8yjqfvInOteVMcFfoYnBg2I1cGcV59QBb6AovbMBNv-Q-sBdslGZYx8uoEkbFJnw1FLZcTHfUaE0Tv0_fEC32dvXbnk/s1600/gluten-free-symbol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0b8dBcv7rfud8DKYdDzqgEuT3xQ3oPj2Co4Elq5MpC3Qjscw8yjqfvInOteVMcFfoYnBg2I1cGcV59QBb6AovbMBNv-Q-sBdslGZYx8uoEkbFJnw1FLZcTHfUaE0Tv0_fEC32dvXbnk/s1600/gluten-free-symbol.jpg" /></a>With a recent revelation in my Special Lady-Friend's (hereafter SLF) dietary regimen, I have been provided with another brewing related challenge -- to find and capture the ever elusive <b>tasty</b> gluten-free beer!<br />
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You can learn a lot more about gluten sensitivities from websites and blogs by people with far more relevant PhDs after their surnames (see links below), so I will spare you from this pedant's attempt to explain SLF's situation . Just know it sucks, and this dietary limitation is not by her choosing. I'm sure it must be even more torturous living with an obsessed brewer and <strike>borderline</strike> alcoholic while such a ban is in place. Pause and reflect on a fallen drinking homette next time you are sipping a nice malty brown or IPA -- she would appreciate.<br />
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Before I rant against the gluten-free beer options out there, let me acknowledge that gluten-free brewing is tough. I find it particularly ironic that each of the grains we are most familiar with in brewing--barley, rye, and wheat--contain gluten. Not that I am a strict adherent, but according to the infamous German purity law of 1516 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinheitsgebot" target="_blank">Reinheitsgebot</a>, now repealed) you cannot make a gluten-free beverage that is called beer. Beer is, or used to be, essentially, glutenous.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OHHX4cTYIB9INkNVZ5CK22rFJwyJTvHHr2qMfi6n8SQkwdoxU1wTRi64G26N8ToHs7nNw2FHWw_28nT8hHjnxnAyu5vUtsUgrmi2YoqBSkX4_wK5VZ0KiyriZLlxQw1Cc9TSAC5Vw9o/s1600/renheitsgebot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0OHHX4cTYIB9INkNVZ5CK22rFJwyJTvHHr2qMfi6n8SQkwdoxU1wTRi64G26N8ToHs7nNw2FHWw_28nT8hHjnxnAyu5vUtsUgrmi2YoqBSkX4_wK5VZ0KiyriZLlxQw1Cc9TSAC5Vw9o/s400/renheitsgebot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In more recent brewing history, of course, what qualifies as "beer" has been importantly challenged. Although there is a lot to say for tradition and the centuries of brewing history and precedent, the limits and definition of what we recognize as beer arguably evolves as our culture does. I believe beer is a remarkable cultural barometer, and while an important part of culture is preserving what has come before, participation in culture necessarily involves innovation and experimentation. After all, that's how the familiar <a href="http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php" target="_blank">brewing styles</a> were first developed. <br />
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So, problem stated, onto potential solutions:<br />
<ol>
<li>Wine - We like wine. But wine is not beer, and cannot be quaffed in a similar manner.</li>
<li>Cocktails - We like cocktails. To maintain her alcohol intake at home, SLF has taken up gin-and-tonics. Gin-and-tonics are not beer, and cannot be quaffed in a similar manner.</li>
<li>Redbridge (a gluten-free beer from Budwieser) - Solution dismissed promptly upon tasting. </li>
<li>Other gluten-free beer - We've read some good reviews, especially regarding <a href="http://www.estrelladamm.com/en/daura_gluten_free_beer/" target="_blank">"Daura" by Estrella Damm (Spain</a>), and <a href="https://www.glutenfreebeers.co.uk/" target="_blank">Green's (UK)</a> but have had a tough time acquiring these. And they are relatively expensive, and none are comparable to malty brown ales or a Lagunitas IPA. We are excited to try Dogfish's new <a href="http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/seasonal-brews/tweasonale.htm" target="_blank">Tweason'ale</a>, a sorghum beer that is described as "molasses and pit-fruit...[with] strawberry notes." (Each of these are acceptable options, and will no doubt have a place in the fridge, but their availability is restricted, they are pricey, and are they are not very "beery.")</li>
<li>I'm a brewer; I will make you gluten-free beer (and reap all the benefits of a satisfied and alcoholically impressed Special Lady-Friend)!</li>
</ol>
So, embracing my inner experimentalist and brewer, I am embarking on a foray into gluten-free homebrewing. I've done a bit of research, and have discovered a bunch of informative and helpful resources out there in interweb land. While I plan to continue posting about the gluteny homebrew that I make, I will also trace my gluten-free investigations, and hope to inspire others to contribute their suggestions and experiences.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4DVQxhk73haOeUJGOY5kWhhLEUbsCZmCrKP70rr-KP0d-bPKugalZASrBlbVwWnSl1xSh1NBwA-AAUMOLbsQ_CMz9fK9DvksslS0uM8POq9TN_sU4v_QN7_35htBpUCTFg_XVDJv8jY/s1600/sorghum2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4DVQxhk73haOeUJGOY5kWhhLEUbsCZmCrKP70rr-KP0d-bPKugalZASrBlbVwWnSl1xSh1NBwA-AAUMOLbsQ_CMz9fK9DvksslS0uM8POq9TN_sU4v_QN7_35htBpUCTFg_XVDJv8jY/s200/sorghum2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorghum you miss me when I'm gone? <br />
Get it? </td></tr>
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One thing we are trying to get away from is the distinct sorghummy character that is frequently found in commercial examples of gluten-free beer. A future post will detail our attempts to malt buckwheat to supplement and perhaps even replace sorghum. I heard about this idea from John Plise on a <a href="http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/" target="_blank">Brewing Network</a> Sunday Session podcast. (Check out his <a href="http://www.glutenfreecraftbeer.com/" target="_blank">great website</a>.) Other grains that people use are quinoa, millet, and amaranth. One thing that I have not read a lot about is utilizing yeast and hops to make gluten-free beer taste more, well, "beery." I will plan to experiment with different yeasts and hop regiments to see how they can effect the taste of these non-barley beers.<br />
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There is <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Beer-Archaeologist.html?c=y&page=5" target="_blank">the possibility</a> that "beer" made from wild grains led to the cultivation of the cereal grains that we are most familiar with today. If this is true, gluten-free beer may have preceded agriculture. Maybe we aren't being so innovative after all...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If I knew it was that kind of party...</td></tr>
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Gluten-free beer links:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f164/" target="_blank">HomeBrewTalk's Gluten-Free Brewing Forum</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bluesbrews.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/gluten-free-beer/" target="_blank">Blue's Brews blog post on g-free brewing</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mrgoodbeer.com/gf/" target="_blank">Mr. Goodbeer Gluten-Free Links</a></li>
<li><a href="http://grantsglutenfreehomebrew.webs.com/" target="_blank">Grant's Gluten Free Homebrew Kits</a> (I've no experience with 'em, but his pics make 'em look good...)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.glutenfreecraftbeer.com/" target="_blank">John Plise's Gluten Free Craft Beer</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art69403.asp" target="_blank">Gluten Free Brewing - Malting Sorghum (Bella Online)</a></li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4598360319343078475" name="below"><br /></a>
Gluten-free food links:<br />
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<li><a href="http://glutenfreegirl.com/" target="_blank">Gluten Free Girl</a> - A ridiculously comprehensive cookbook of sorts.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.artofglutenfreebaking.com/" target="_blank">Art of Gluten-Free Baking</a> - An excellent GF baking resource.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.celiac.com/">Celiac.com</a> - General celiac info., food lists, ingredients, etc.</li>
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A long overdue update: We have found <a href="http://omissionbeer.com/" target="_blank">Omission</a> from Widmer Bros. to be by far the best low-gluten option. The reason its so tasty? Because it is actually made with barley! They use a remarkable enzyme called Brewers Clarex to reduce their beers to below 20ppm of gluten. </div>
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This enzyme is now available to homebrewers from <a href="http://www.whitelabs.com/" target="_blank">White Labs</a>, and is called <a href="http://whitelabs.com/enzymes/Clarity-Ferm.pdf" target="_blank">Clarity Ferm</a>. It is advertised as a clearing agent. You can get Clarity Ferm from most online homebrew ingredient vendors, such as <a href="http://morebeer.com/" target="_blank">MoreBeer</a> and <a href="http://www.northernbrewer.com/" target="_blank">Northern Brewer</a>.</div>
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I'll be doing some batches shortly with Clarity Ferm, and will post my results here.</div>
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Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4598360319343078475.post-59440899140864804482012-02-27T13:23:00.003-08:002012-03-02T10:45:50.437-08:00All hail our kombucha overlords!<br />
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Kombucha is pretty easy and inexpensive to make, and is supposedly pretty dang healthy. I prefer my homemade kombucha to any of the commercial examples that I have tasted -- it just seems much more flavorful and tart. There are a lot of different recipes and ratios out there in internet land to match different preferences in intensity and balance of flavor. I like mine with a nice acidic tang, and slight carbonation to add a bit of a bittering sensation to the sweeter backdrop of sugars. It can certainly put a pep in my step, even when coffee won't do the trick.</div>
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The procedure is rather easy -- all you need is a large stockpot and some sort of fermenting vessel. I've heard that because of the acidity you should not let kombucha or culture touch any type of metal, including spoons, but I cannot speak to this. One thing to note is that the local co-op sells kombucha on draft in corny kegs. Although I don't really like this kombucha, it doesn't taste particularly metallic. An easy way to avoid all these concerns is to ferment in a large glass jug or 2-quart mason jars.<br />
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Raise the temperature of a gallon of water to near boiling in the stockpot. Stir in 2 cups of cane sugar, until dissolved. After sugar is dissolved, steep 10 tea bags (Black or green) in water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the bags (or else the tea will be tannic and bitter). Let the mixture cool until room temperature (5-7 hours). This is your base.<br />
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To get a culture, buy a bottle of unflavored kombucha at a local heath store or healthy deli. Be sure it is not pasteurized -- as long as it says something like "contains live cultures" you're good. Let it warm to room temperature and mix with your room-temp base tea.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our suntea kombucha jug. <br />
Aesthetics are important, and <br />
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We ferment our kombucha in a sun-tea jar, but really any large glass container with a wide lid would work -- we've used the large mason jars in the past. You want to put a piece of cloth or a loose lid over the opening to keep out any airborne spores or bacteria, but you do need a bit of oxygen exchange for the ferment, so don't seal it off entirely. Because of the PH of the kombucha, it is relatively more resistant to bacterial or wild yeast infection than wort or beer, so while cleanliness and sanitation is important, you don't need to autoclave anything.</div>
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To ferment, place your fermenter in a warmish place for about a week. We put ours in a cabinet above our fridge -- the heat from the back of the fridge keeps the cabinet between 75-80 degrees, which is ideal. Another option is a water-heater closet, or even on top of radiator in a cardboard box. You want it to be warm, not hot -- don't let the temp get above 85 degrees or it will be really acidic and vinegary. As it ferments it will develop a nice slimy pellicle on top of the liquid (see photo). This pellicle is called a "scoby" (symbiotic culture of bacterias and yeasts).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An early stage of scoby formation. This is the second batch<br />
after culturing this from the dregs of a commercial kombucha.</td></tr>
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Then ferment to taste. Ours takes about a week, but it might take a little longer with your first batch (b/c you are culturing from a bottle), or if you ferment at a lower temperature. It will be more flavorful than commercial kombuchas. Pour off 3 quarts of the liquid into bottles, retaining the final quart and the scoby. Seal the bottles and put them in the fridge -- they'll develop a bit of carbonation over the next few days. When you make your next batch, pour your chilled base tea onto the retained liquid and scoby.<br />
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I heard this great rumor that they--"they" being the powers of science--have never found a naturally occuring kombucha culture. This is a bit creepy, and can keep you up at night if you think about it (especially while drinking a lot of kombucha). It is my personal belief that these scobys are extraterrestrial beings colonizing us parasitically through our tastebuds and stomachs. I've certainly propagated my share. They are probably in cahoots with saccharomyces and brettanomyces as well. Where does this conspiracy end?!? Our appetites will be our downfall! Makes me feel rather compassionate for <a href="http://www.zmescience.com/research/studies/zombie-ants-fungus-09052011/" target="_blank">these guys</a>...<br />
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</div>Aaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03847603009871350797noreply@blogger.com0