Planet Beer

Happy New Year!

2011-01-12T11:24:00.002-05:00

If you're looking for How to Brew info, please go to the earliest posts on the list.
And check out my latest efforts at Candia Road Brewing Company!

Naughty Nancy's Nut Brown Ale

2009-08-22T14:19:00.003-04:00

The feds turned the original drawing down, so this was slightly altered from the first submission (yes I know!) Sorry it's been so long since posting. Please visit the Manchester Brewing Fans! page on Facebook for more up to the moment info.

Whoops!

2009-04-05T20:16:00.002-04:00

We've got a new website, over at Manchester Brewing! As usually happens, I forgot to post for a few months. The Studly Monk is aging well. I'm planning a new edition soon, which will have a higher ABV and more orange.

The John Thomas Red and Conspiracy Theory Oatmeal Stout are in the tank. We have a bottling machine on the way, so hopefully sometime this week these two will get into bottles, then become available the following week. The Alt Cntrl Delete is due after that.

Notes on the names:

The John Thomas Red is a very Monty Python kind of name. See if you can guess whose photo that is on the label! We're kind of fond of bad jokes around here, doncha know.

The Conspiracy Theory Oatmeal Stout features two men, one of whom is saying "Did you hear about Building 7?" to the other. Of course, Building 7 is the third World Trade Center tower to collapse on September 11, 2001. It fell down even though it hadn't been hit by a plane. It might have been on fire, or maybe not. There are videos showing police telling bystanders that the building was going to come down, and moving them away from the building. Building 7 was ignored by the 911 Commission. See 911truth.org for more details. Oddly, everyone believes there was a conspiracy that led to 911. The only disagreement is who, exactly, was responsible. That President Roosevelt knew in advance of the Pearl Harbor attack has been settled since 2000, when listening post data from the South Pacific became available and unclassified. The government still won't cop to that one, either...yet.

The Alt Control Delete is one of my favorite labels. It's seriously geeky. The Alt form of beer (a Northern German style) is one of my favorites, and it's damn hard to find a good one hereabouts.

The Naughty Nancy's Nut Brown Ale was rejected by the Feds. We're going to clean her up a bit and re-submit.

We're also working on a deal to bring t-shirts of all our labels out, plus some other swag. Stay tuned on that one. You can get the original OMFG shirt design, and the Kombat Ale, on the Manchester Brewing site right now.

Derek Cochrane has left us for the bright lights of a landscaping career. Jason Knoblaugh is filling in at the assistant brewer helm.

New photo

2008-12-07T18:34:00.003-05:00

This photo appeared in a forum online and I asked the photographer, Mike B, if we could use it. The title is "Liberty Paraphrenalia" and has one of our Konkord Kombat Ales on the front, among other fun things. Kids: don't forget, alcohol and Uzis don't mix, unless your parents aren't home.

Gitcher Space Beer, or not...

2008-12-03T16:44:00.002-05:00

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/03/content_10447483.htm

So if it won't be for sale in the next year, can we just buy it on Ebay?

Open House

2008-11-30T20:32:00.003-05:00

We had a very short notice Open House Saturday, and the place was jammed to the gills with Free Staters, Brew Free or Die members, and Concord homebrewers. We sold a few cases of beer and folks got to sample the Koncord Kombat Ale as well as the Censored Imperial Blonde. We will be going round to stores Monday with samples, expect a list online at www.manchesterbrewing.com!

It was a fun day but a grueling one that lasted from 6 am to about 10:30 pm when we cleaned up.

Our first beer! Yay!

2008-11-23T20:08:00.003-05:00

The first beer on our menu is the Koncord Kombat Ale. We received our label approvals Friday morning and ordered the labels for the Kombat ale as well as the Censored Imperial Blonde, which is in the tank.

Slumming at the Barley House

2008-11-23T19:55:00.002-05:00

"That'll be $5.25" said the bartender after he poured my bottle of hefeweisen into a large glass. A bit more than the Black and Tan I'd started with, but it's a 20 ounce beer so....he turned around: "at least, it was $5.25 two weeks ago, now it's $8.25". I'm not sure what Miss Manners would say about spitting a full glass of partially digested beer on bar staff, but fortunately good breeding and a keen dislike of arrest caused me to re-think my first impulse.

Needless to say, that was my last beer. I was sitting next to Paul Davis, a real parliamentary workhorse who's got lots of painful experience dealing with the brutal infighting common to fraternal organizations; Paul is starting a new micro somewhere in New Hampshire. I'll say where when I remember or Paul tells me.

So, Paul held forth like a champion, a veritable William Jennings Bryan of the beer table, for many hours. Finally, just before losing conciousness, blood burst from my ears and I fell to the floor, crawling away to the restroom to bandage my appendages. I only hope somebody recorded the performance for posterity because, Praise Jesus, I have no clue or memory of what was said.

After that, some of us went over to the office and sampled what we had on tap until we had to go forth in search of burritos. It was a great time, let's do that again!

Smacked Down by The Man!

2008-11-10T17:54:00.002-05:00

The TTB rejected all of our labels! One had a flag over the capitol; it was an American flag but that's not allowed---so we put a Hammer and Sickle where the stars go, and that's ok. Also, we used OMFG! on another label, and the government decided that was obscene, even though we protested that it meant Oh My Fairy Godmother and told them we were sticking to that story. So now it says "Censored" over the OMFG, and people tell me they find that funnier. We'll have the original versions of both labels on the t-shirts, of course. The third label was just a font size issue, but they were ok with the art.

Shazam

2008-11-01T19:38:00.002-04:00

Hope you had a happy Halloween. So far my favorite bumper sticker in the election is:
"Vote Cthulu! Why Choose the Lesser of Two Evils?"

We brewed our first batch last week, gave away samples early today from five gallons I pulled out of the conditioning tank and carbonated ahead of time. Nothing like extremely fresh beer! I liked the taste, it was clean with a dry aftertaste. Comments were extremely positive, except for John Maltz who kept yammering on and on about how Hobgoblin was better. Which, if you like sweet "bitter" with low flavor he's right) It was the Combat Ale, incidentally, I figured that was the most tolerant brew for the first run. Mostly, the equipment ran as it should have. I learned that you can never have too many clamps and gaskets. Or pumps. The gasket on the mash tun was my biggest worry, but it held fast. The horses got the spent grain after.

I'm hoping for label approval Monday on the first three brews, and we got a shipment of 1/6 bbl kegs in. Oddly, the state requires federal approval of keg caps along with labels, so I can't sell anything until the labels pass. I'll post the labels online when the approvals come in, the artwork is pretty neat. The Combat ale has some neat t-shirts that will, of course, be way cooler than anything Liberty Street comes up with, I'll bet!

In fact, the artists that worked on the labels kicked ass. It would be hard to beat their design, but I'll keep trying. I supplied the concept for the second and third labels, but Dan designed the Soviet motif all on his own. Rather apropos for the times, eh comrade?

Let the Earth Tremble at the Coming of The New Hampshire Brewer's Guild

2008-10-06T06:57:00.002-04:00

Saturday would have been just another Saturday but for the chosen few gathered at the Barley Pub in Dover, who plotted future meetings with a dogged determination that bordered on, well, doggedly determined. The meeting was a grueling 2.5 hour talkfest that strayed from the printed agenda in many good ways. Thanks to this, the Foul Robert's Rules of Order were never adopted.

Beer was consumed. Representatives of many breweries were on hand, plus Dan from Ale Street News was there...listening to "don't print that Dan!" from time to time. It was agreed that further meetings with drinks were needed to obtain a more balanced perspective.

Awaiting the State thing

2008-10-03T20:45:00.004-04:00

We now have a stunning new anti-alcohol poster for minors. I assume it's meant to be displayed and wasn't just a gift from the state. On the 22nd, our friends from Liquor Control paid a visit and gave us some swell regulations. So I got to ask if we were a Cocktail Lounge. Apparently, we aren't, which is a good thing, because that means people can smoke there if we feel like allowing it. Right now, we're waiting for the Board to pass our license, which they only do on infrequent occasions. The next one is on the 8th, we hope to brew the first batch on the 9th. Still not sure which beer it will be. It's likely the Devil's Rooster though.

The parts for the brewing have begun to show up via UPS and Fedex, valves and clamps and hoses and the scale and dunnage racks. There's always some cool thing we need. We bought a couple of tanks from an ad on Probrewer, some were great and two were amazingly bad and have needed a welder to make them right.

There are some really cool new labels to show, they're being made into t-shirts which will go on sale soon. Two of the designs are mine and done with Manchester artist Dan Roberge, who mysteriously vanished after we paid him. If you've seen him, tell him we like the labels! The next is being worked on by Eddye Grogan and you'll be able to see that too.

Our new site is http://www.manchesterbrewing.com and is in progress. Terry Williams is putting the site together. It'll be very simple so if you like it, it's Terry, and if you hate it, it's our fault. We have a new logo as well, Lou Eastman did that. Through word of mouth we've come very close to selling out our first batch! I certainly hope it's popular....there is a real interest in locally brewed beer, and Concord has a lot of civic appreciation, for lack of a better phrase.

The organizing meeting for the New Hampshire Brewer's Guild is tomorrow, looks like fun, maybe all 8 of us will go.

I swiped the posters up top online because they're terribly cute.

Licensed to Brew!

2008-09-18T07:01:00.001-04:00

Federal approval arrived, unbeknownst to us, on September 11th. Remember that day!

New Brewery!

2008-08-29T15:06:00.003-04:00

Hi there. Sorry for not posting lo these many months. I moved to New Hampshire and started a brewery there. I'll post some photos of the construction---we hope to open in September. Expecting the feds to approve us today, but I know how that goes! The plumber called and said they couldn't finish the kettle vent stack until next week. It's been a real experience and I hope to write a book about it. I've counted, and Manchester Brewing is my seventh try. I'm going to count Liberty Street Brewing Company as my first since I designed the facility and built the company myself---so Manchester will be my second actual brewery.

It's very different from Liberty Street, particularly since it's not a brewpub, but a straight micro with a TINY tasting room. The whole place is about 900 square feet. Above is a drawing for the label of our first brew, Concord Combat Ale. I liked the art, but it turned out there's really too much white space for a cool label---but why waste the art?

Liberty Street and Me

2008-04-30T07:39:00.003-04:00

Have parted ways. Yes, it was very soap opera. My ex-"partners" bought me out, it was that or dissolve the company. There was a good deal of back-stabbing going on, and we weren't able to continue together. I was pretty sure that they'd fall down when it came to actually doing the work, but they got Mike O to fill in for them. Thanks Mike!

Yet, all is not out of the brewing impulse, I plan to be brewing soon here in good 'ol Washtenaw County.

New! Improved!

2008-01-10T18:11:00.001-05:00

Hi there.

Here's the new drawing of the exterior of our proposed Microbrewery on Liberty Street in Plymouth. We were approved by the Planning Commission yesterday. Still lots of work ahead.

Bridget Benefit

2007-10-31T22:24:00.000-04:00

November 9th, Friday at the Ann Arbor Brewer's Guild Meeting, there will be a silent auction to benefit Bridget O'Brien, who was struck by a car recently while walking in Tecumseh. Bridget is doing well, the baby appears to be undamaged, and the driver at last report was insured. So, the medical bills should be paid! We're raising money to help with the family's living expenses while she recuperates, as Bridget was planning to work until the baby was due---expected in roughly a month and a half. Please donate if you can, also donations will be accepted at the AABG meeting.

To Donate: Please press the "Donate" Button located below the links on the right of the page. Thanks!

New Home

2007-09-11T20:34:00.000-04:00

Hello! We finally signed a lease on a site for the brewery. It's at 149 W. Liberty in Plymouth. Here's a photo of what's there now, and the architect's conception of what it will look like finished. We are leasing the two story brick on the left, and building a two story brick where the frame house is to the right.

El Hefe

2007-06-08T08:30:00.001-04:00

Ok, it's time for an update---and a new recipe. After spending the past year and a half looking for a site to put a new microbrewery, we've finally ended up in Chelsea. We still have lots of forms to fill out, as well as city council meetings to attend, and also the building has to be completely gutted and re-built. If we have good luck and a decent tailwind, we could possibly be open in January. (I'm an optimist, by the way.) If we manage to finish by St. Patrick's Day, it will make me very happy. The building is long and narrow, we'll have a stage with Blues most nights, Jazz brunch Sundays. It's an old theater, and we hope to be able to use the mezzanine as well.

Joe Walters and Jim Satterfield will be the assistant brewers to start.

The recipe is for Hefeweizen, which means "with yeast" in German. So don't freak out because it's cloudy! This recipe is very basic, very easy, and yummy too. I used Amarillo hops, because Mike was all out of Tettnang. It still tastes great.

(Removed)

Dark Ginger Ale

2007-04-21T18:52:00.000-04:00

Today we do a summer beverage, a real ginger ale with a bit of a difference.

8 pounds Maris Otter
4 ounces roast barley

1 ounce Glacier 6.1% plug, at boil

1084 Wyeast Irish ale yeast

60 minute boil, 5 gallon sparge. At 20 minutes from End of Boil add:
1 ounce crystalized ginger
2 ounces fresh grated ginger root

Original gravity: 1.051
Gypsum and Irish moss as usual.

Note on the last batch: if I call it an American Brown, it actually fits style! I left out the black malt, and it shows in the color as well as in the taste.

New Car?

2007-04-11T17:32:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for something in a beer wagon...

An Irish Rye Stout

2007-04-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

Here's a somewhat belated entry for a St. Patrick's Day next!

8 pounds Durst Pilsner
12 ounces Roast Barley
6 ounces Munton's Chocolate Malt
1 pound flaked Rye

Hops: Glacier 6.2%,
1 ounce at 60 EOB
1 ounce 30 EOB

Yeast, Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale

A 4 gallon sparge yielded a 1.058 Original Gravity, no make up water. The projected OG was 1.052, the batch is a bit smaller than usual. Irish Moss and Gypsum as usual. This was the first time I've used the Glacier hops, and I'm looking forward to telling you how it came out!

Software Expectations

2007-03-06T07:07:00.000-05:00

So you might ask yourself, "what can I expect from my shiny new software demo pack?". Me too! I'm switching to Brew Smith from ProMash, because ProMash hasn't done an update in three years or so. Still, it's been good to me.

One thing brewing software positively sucks at is telling you what color your beer will be. Both ProMash and Brew Smith predict Studly Monk to be 26.4 SRM, which is more or less brown. It's clearly orange---and very likely nowhere near 26 SRM. The color of the Belgian candy sugar we used was predicted at 275 SRM, which I think is way off.

The best uses I've gotten out of brewing software are to predict the effect of hops on overall bitterness, changing the size of batches, and to figure out my target gravity. Despite what I said about color, it does help with that too sometimes. Still, the best way to predict color is to keep good notes!

Free Brewware!

2007-02-26T17:23:00.000-05:00

At least, for 21 days! I came across BeerSmith while on a web search for an upgrade to Promash. So far, it looks pretty cool. If you decide you like it, you can buy for $19.95.

http://www.beersmith.com/index.htm

And Then Hell Froze Over

2007-02-14T20:09:00.000-05:00

Thanks Chris!

Michelob goes back to all malt By Jeremiah McWilliams ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 02/07/2007

In a television commercial airing this week, a craftsman rolls liquid glass into the teardrop shape of a Michelob bottle, to a swing soundtrack: "I can feel a change a'comin' . A change will do you good."

With that in mind, Anheuser-Busch Cos. is pushing its Michelob beer family back to its roots.

The St. Louis brewer will make Michelob, Michelob Light and Michelob AmberBock with 100 percent malt — one of the signatures of fast-growing craft beers.

Backed by a national advertising blitz, the brand's teardrop bottle will return after a five-year absence.
"We've got a chance for new drinkers to get into it and get excited about Michelob," said A-B brewmaster Nathaniel Davis. "It's a nod to the original heritage."

Michelob has been positioned as A-B's "super-premium" or higher-priced beer family since 1896, when it was first brewed in St. Louis using 100 percent malt. It was originally available only on draught in exclusive restaurants and hotels. In 1961, rice was added to the Michelob brewing process, and the beer was packaged in its teardrop bottle, which was designed for easy recognition in smoky lounges and bars.

Michelob and Michelob Light have struggled in recent years against competition from craft and import beers, although low-carb Michelob Ultra, boosted by the Atkins diet, enjoyed explosive growth in 2003 and 2004.

Volume in the overall Michelob family dropped by "low single-digit" percentages last year even as A-B's overall volumes increased, W. Randolph Baker, A-B's chief financial officer, said last week.

But that understates the long-term decline of individual brands. Michelob Lager shipments in the U.S. plunged by 48 percent between 2002 and 2005, with Michelob Light falling 43.6 percent, according to the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.

Meanwhile, craft beers grabbed some of the fastest growth in the U.S. beer industry as drinkers experimented with specialty beer. Dollar sales of craft beers in supermarkets climbed 18 percent last year, according to Beer Marketer's Insights.

The repositioning "appears to be an effort to more closely link (Michelob) with the world of craft beers," said Mark Swartzberg, a New York beverage analyst with Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. "One of the things it struggles with is, it's hard to argue that it's a niche beer. Michelob has always been the known cousin of Budweiser."

The redesign gives Michelob a sharper focus, said Bill Finnie, an adjunct business professor at Washington University and former A-B strategic planner.

It's "really targeting the craft beer drinker in a coherent sort of way," he said. "Now, the Michelob family will have a much more distinct role."

The revamping of Michelob's ingredients and packaging is its second major makeover in about five years. For years, Michelob had attracted older customers, partly because of its longtime sponsorship of golf tournaments. But in 2002, A-B scrapped the teardrop bottle and rolled out hip and sexy television ads meant to compete with imports and target drinkers aged 21-27.

Now, A-B is pitching Michelob as a beer for quality-conscious adult drinkers, regardless of age.

"Our core drinkers will appreciate this and they'll appreciate the beer's heritage," said Eduardo Pereda, marketing director for the Michelob family.

The switch to all malt will give Michelob a fuller body but not drastically change its taste, Davis said. Rice, an ingredient in Michelob, Michelob Light and AmberBock, gives beer a lighter, crisper taste than all-malt craft beers.

A-B plans to roll out the reformulated Michelob and new packaging by Feb. 26.

'Beer goggles' effect explained

2007-02-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

A major scientific study helpfully supplied by Roger Burns, it explains just oodles of things YOU wonder about! Go ahead, take a look....

Studly Monk Tripel

2007-01-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

Yum. Deep nut and pear notes combine with a medium body to produce a very rich taste indeed. I should have waited another two days or so before popping the top, but it was worth it. Brewed by me and Joe on December 31st. Recipe below...

Going TOO far, or is it? And What About Cats?

2007-01-23T10:04:00.000-05:00

Dutch pet shop owner creates beer for dogs

Thanks to Stephen Klump for the tip!

Leftover Belgian Stout Update

2007-01-15T12:30:00.000-05:00

This interesting concoction (recipe in previous post) has a nice, creamy head with small bubbles and a beautiful cascade! The taste is very difficult to describe, although the roast is evident. Verging on sour, but not getting there, tart and refreshing. Not too thick, but neither is this a thin draft. Some residual sweetness, close to wine like with chocolate overtones. The nose is somewhere between vanilla and root beer-like---overall, I'd do this one again!

News today

2007-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Cheri and I have been on the South Beach diet for the last two weeks. At last, it's time for BEER! Anyway, I lost 9 pounds or so. It isn't really a bad diet, it just needs more snax. The Leftover Belgian Stout is in the keg and ready to be carbed, the Holiday Stout is ready for tasting after finishing its bottle conditioning, and the Studly Monk Belgian Tripel is still fermenting. The latter stuck for a bit, but I think rousing the yeast will get it back on track.

Belgian Leftover Stout

2007-01-06T21:02:00.000-05:00

I had this smack pack of Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey in the fridge, which I got free when Merchant of Vino closed in 2002. Also, I had some roast barley, some rye I got at a guild swap of unknown age, some Munich malt, and various hops one of which I forgot to label. Out of curiosity, I popped the smack pack about 10 days ago. Yesterday, it had swelled up to full size. Hmmm. Must be a Sign From God that it's time to brew again....so I decided to throw everything into the pot. I added 3 pounds of pilsener as the malt bill was a tad light for my taste. Anyway, here's the recipe:

1/2 pound Belgian 2 row
1/2 pound Belgian aromatic
9 ounces roast barley
3 pounds Durst Pils
3.75 pounds of Munich
1 pound flaked Rye

Hops:
Boil, 1/2 oz. Challenger 7.2%
plus 1/2 ounce something (probably EKG 5.4%)
15 EOB 1/2 ounce Styrian Goldings 4.0%

Wyeast 1214

60 minute mash, 60 minute boil, usual additions, BUT no make up water. Thus, a smaller batch than usual, giving a starting gravity of 1.056. I've had a Belgian Stout over at Jolly Pumpkin, it was pretty sour. I think Ron put extra bacteria in, just for fun. I expect mine to have some banana esters based on what it smelled like when I pitched it! More as it happens....

Holiday Stout Update

2007-01-05T14:44:00.000-05:00

All is now bottled, for a spot of aging. It's very difficult to describe the taste, the cinnamon is there, but not very obtrusively. Almost a licorice sort of thing, except it tastes good and I hate licorice. Y'know, very very unusual. More updates on that in a couple of weeks.

New Job For You?

2007-01-02T13:53:00.000-05:00

Dust off your resumes to become:

Chief Beer Officer

Many thanks to Ben and BusinessPundit
for the link!

Studly Monk Belgian Tripel

2007-01-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is technically a brew from last year, since Joe Walters and I brewed it yesterday:

(recipe excised)

Original Gravity for this batch: 1.083

Makes 5 gallons. We picked out the graphic for the label in advance, here it is...

Studly Monk

News to Celebrate!

2006-12-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

From Best of the Web:

We'll Drink to That

A new study shows that "drinking a moderate amount of alcohol--up to four drinks per day in men and two drinks per day in women--reduces the risk of death from any cause by roughly 18 percent," Reuters reports.

We drink moderately, and we suppose every little thing helps, but that still means there's an 82% chance we'll eventually die. Is there anything else we can do to increase our chances of immortality? Apparently a fifth drink isn't the answer: "Men who have more than four drinks per day . . . increase their risk of death," Reuters says. That means if you consistently drink five or more drinks a day, your risk of death will actually exceed 100%.

*end quote*

Does "any cause" include driving at Top Speed? Inquiring minds want to know!

Holiday Stout

2006-12-24T08:53:00.000-05:00

Seasons Greetings!

Here's what's in the tank at my house right now:

5 pounds Munton's 2-row
5 pounds Munich
1 pound Special Roast
1 pound Special B
1/2 pound black patent malt
1/2 pound roast barley
1 pound flaked oats
16 ounces unsulphered molasses
2 ounces cinnamon sticks
1 pot of coffee, double strength

Mash at approximately 150 degrees for an hour, 1 quart/pound. Sparge with 3 gallons at 140 degrees plus.

The brew is for 60 minutes, with the cinnamon added 20 minutes before end of boil. The coffee is added immediately after end of boil. The molasses went in around boil also. Gypsum and Irish moss as usual.

There is only one hop addition, at boil:
1 ounce Amarillo 8%
1 ounce Willamette 4.6% (substitute Fuggles if necessary)
I'm using a lager yeast for this one, fermenting at 64 degrees.

This mash smelled great, very spicy. The first runnings tasted like molasses, and I hadn't added any yet! I usually do a cinnamon stout for the holidays, and this year I thought a few extra ingredients would be fun. The pound of Special B is more than I usually add to a recipe, and the Special Roast is a new addition too. The OG was around 1.077, which should yield a fairly high ABV. I'll keep you posted on that. Photos next week!

Vlog for dollars!

2006-12-20T18:02:00.000-05:00

Brewing Up a Dream

Dec 19, 2006 - Wiley Publishing has launched a contest to promote the paperback release of Dogfish Head Brewery founder Sam Calagione's "Brewing Up a Business." That's 10,000 cool ones if you've got the video to prove it all night.

From ProBrewer

Ancient beer with amazing taste?

2006-12-11T15:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a cool article in today's Telegraph that was pointed out by Chris Frey and Jeff Renner:

Beautiful beer lost in the vaults since 1869

By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor

You need to know these things.

2006-12-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

ST. LOUIS: Warm beer led to killing, police say

A spiffy kind of Oktoberfest

2006-12-02T19:37:00.000-05:00

Next, my new Oktoberfest. I shrank down a 7 bbl recipe for this version, and am trying to decide whether or not to include ingredients that amount to 12 grams of certain grains. They're in the beer, but does it matter?

Bottle size

2006-11-16T09:47:00.000-05:00

Ok, at least in bottle sizes, bigger is better. I like the 675 or 750 ml. bottles best, rather than the standard 12 oz. six pack size. It makes the filling go faster, particularly when you brew as often as I do. Usually I only bottle 1-2 gallons, and keg the rest. So this is my favorite bottle size...

Imperial Kolsch

2006-11-16T09:38:00.001-05:00

This is one of those accidental recipes that worked out very well.

(recipe excised)

gypsum and irish moss as kettle additions

Original gravity, 1.068
Final gravity, 1.010

I made a low volume sparge which limited my final batch to about 4.25 gallons, which caused the ABV to be rather high.

Alcohol by volume, approximately 7.5%, hence the name!
This kolsch-style beer has a distinctive taste that you can only get with the 2049 yeast. You can substitute any lager yeast to make kolsch with, although I'd suggest you avoid any that say "kolsch yeast" on them. Kolsch is made with lager yeast at room temperatures, and so you get esters from the yeast that you normally wouldn't. The beer is a deep honey color, photo above.
This beer has just been force carbonated, it will clarify in a short time---like about 3 days.

Mo Better Cider

2006-10-31T08:15:00.000-05:00

Since Friday, the cider has gone from 1.052 to 1.020, yielding a very drinkable cider with 4% abv. You can see by the photo that the color has changed to nearly orange juicy. The flavor is excellent, not too dry or sweet, and the cider is well-carbonated to the extent that you can see bubbles when it's poured, although there is no head on it. Both batches, the one and five gallon, are still slowly fermenting, and I'll leave them alone for awhile to see what happens next. There are two different yeasts in use, and the five gallon batch is noticeably drier, even though the specific gravity is now at 1.024 in the big bottle. Happy Halloween!

Update: the cider fermented all the way to 1.003, making it quite the headbanger. It's dry but very refreshing. I'm saving a few bottles to see what happens later...

Fun With Cider

2006-10-27T08:52:00.000-04:00

Ever wondered what would happen if you added brewer's yeast to cider? Me too. I made a five gallon batch and pitched it with yeast from the Ginger Porter, and a one gallon batch pitched with half a packet of yeast (about 3.5 grams) shown here with an airlock. I'm thinking you could just use the cap from the jug, threaded loosely. Mike O'Brien tells me the cider should ferment all the way down, so we'll check that. The starting gravity was 1.052. I let it warm to 60 degrees F before pitching, and fermentation was obvious in a few hours in both the one and five gallon batches. I used pasteurized cider with NO potassium sorbate, which is sometimes added to inhibit fermentation.

Detroit News Article

2006-10-24T12:45:00.000-04:00

Cheers for beer makers

Craft brewers' sales up, but they say state law is stalling growth

Louis Aguilar | The Detroit News / The Detroit News

Ok, this post was Supposed to be on this page! Thanks to Patti for the link.

Big Orange Thang

2006-10-19T23:55:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure how much you can see, but this last batch is definitely orange. It's very light, abv 4%. A keeper.

A bit of Red

2006-10-13T11:34:00.000-04:00

Here's a new batch that just finished today:
5 pounds Munton's lager malt
1 pound Belgian aromatic malt
1 pound Vienna malt
4 ounces roasted barley

Mash at 145 F for 60 minutes, 60 minute boil. 8 quarts mash water, 4 gallon sparge at 170 F.
Hops: 1st addition (start of boil) 1 ounce 4.5% Willamette
2nd addition (30 minutes) 1 ounce 2.9% Saaz
3rd addition (15 minutes) 1 ounce 3.6% Saaz
Yeast: Irish ale, White labs, from batch of ginger porter
Original gravity: 1.040
Final gravity: 1.008
Alcohol by Volume: 4%

This brew is a session red, dry with malt taste prevailing slightly. Some hop bitterness and aroma. Photo to follow...

Results and stuff

2006-10-10T08:07:00.000-04:00

The Ginger Porter attenuated nicely. The taste is no longer overwhelming, the aroma is quite strong. The head really IS that dark and foamy. I've socked away a dozen 750 ml bottles for aging, this glass came from the keg. There's a piece in Men's Journal on the 25 best beers in America. It's just a list, but it has some neat stuff. Take a look!

Ginger Porter

2006-10-02T15:09:00.000-04:00

Photos: top, the ginger ready to go into the boil. It's in a cheesecloth sock. below, the ginger root prior to grating.

G'day!
Recently, I attempted to find out how much ginger was too much. I have to say, I think I've found out. So, you might want to use around 2 ounces of fresh root, rather than the 4.75 ounces I used. Anywayz, here's the recipe:

8 pounds Crisp pale 2-row
1 pound C40 (crystal malt)
1 pound chocolate malt
1 pound munich malt
2 ounces black patent malt
as usual, I add 1 tsp. gypsum to the water to buffer. Also, this mash was done at 140 degrees, to give it a very dry taste (rather overboard, imho---it's REALLY dry)
2 ounces of Willamette hops, 4.5% alpha, all in at start of boil, which is for 60 minutes. Yeast is White Labs Irish Ale, I don't think the White Labs is nearly active enough, and would prefer Wyeast if it was available locally. It took over 24 hours to get active fermentation.
Add 2-4 ounces grated ginger root at 30 minutes from End of Boil, 1 tsp Irish Moss 15 minutes from EOB.

I'll probably bottle most of this, as it seems to need aging. Starting gravity was 1.062, final gravity 1.015. Alcohol by Volume, 6%.

Better than expected!

2006-09-19T08:31:00.000-04:00

The beer that was once a stout, and is now a nut brown, turned out very well once it had been sufficiently aged. I've been looking for a new recipe for Naughty Nancy's Nut Brown Ale and this, I think, will do. A picture is enclosed so you can see why the beer was named long before it was brewed. The artwork is by Ace Backwords, a very talented graphic artist who mysteriously vanished years ago. Someday I hope to find out where he got off to. If you know, please write!

Questionable.

2006-09-06T13:48:00.000-04:00

That last recipe didn't turn out well at all. Strangely, it's only brown, instead of the black it should have been. Also, the specific gravity went UP from yesterday to today. Anyone who understands WHY this should happen, let me know! I'm going to chill the yeast out of suspension, and then see how it tastes...

Beer for Today

2006-09-04T12:14:00.000-04:00

G'day! Here's a recipe for a brew I'm making today:
8 pounds Durst Pilsner malt
13 oz. Vienna malt
13 oz. Flaked Rye
4.625 oz. Dark Chocolate malt
10 oz. Crystal 80 malt
11 oz. Roasted Barley malt

For the first addition, (60 minutes of boil) I'm trying 1.5 oz. Cascade hops, 5.5% alpha
For the second addition, (at 30 minutes into boil) 1 oz. East Kent Golding hops, 5.8% alpha

Yeast is Danstar Windsor, dried, 11 grams. I used this for the previous pineapple brew, and really enjoyed the clean taste and speed. The yeast took off in a short time and was quite vigorous for a dried yeast. Normally I use Wyeast liquid, but the Danstar was recommended and it's only $1.29 as opposed to $6.50 for the Wyeast. Normally I get a few uses out of each yeast, but after the pineapple brew I don't think it would work well.

Misc: 1 tsp. gypsum pre-mash
1 tsp. Irish Moss 15 minutes from End of Boil (henceforth EOB)

I'm shooting for the spiciness you get from rye, plus the nutty flavor of vienna malt. I may have too little of either for a pronounced, distinct taste---we'll see. The crystal 80 is for body and should give a raisin undertone (not resiny!). The chocolate and roast are pretty standard with all my stouts. I've left out the black malt because it overwhelms the other flavors.

The Brew of Pineapple

2006-09-02T11:56:00.000-04:00

Here's the whole process, from beginning the mash to pitching the yeast. Start at the bottom!
Cheers,
Kevin

I put a funnel in the carboy, and place a sieve inside the funnel. That gets the hops and most of the trub (gunk) out of the wort. I continue to chill the wort (around 30 minutes) until I get to around 75 degrees (F), or a little warmer in summer. Then I remove the chiller (very important!) and pour the now cooled wort into the carboy. Then, I add the yeast to the wort and shake it, (put a stopper in before you do this!) after which the airlock goes on. If you want to check the specific gravity, take a sample prior to putting on the airlock. Looks like pineapple juice, doesn't it? The yeast really liked this mix and cranked up in about 4 hours. I used a dried Canadian yeast for this process. It was done in about 4 days. Next, bottling the fun way!

I also sanitize my airlock in the bleach solution.

While the chiller is running (cold water) I get the carboy ready. I store my carboys with a solution of 2 ounces of bleach and six gallons of water; when ready to fill, I empty the carboy and rinse with hot tap water.

Next, I'll put in the chiller. This is a device made of copper tubing, one end of which is connected to the faucet and the other drains into the sink. Chillers bring the temperature of your wort down quickly. Wort can be infected by bacteria, and is most vulnerable if left to cool slowly. You can get a chiller for about $20 or even make one of your own. There are other types of chillers and some brewers prefer to put their hot wort out in the snow.

I let the kettle boil for 60 minutes total. 15 minutes from the end of boil, I add a teaspoon of Irish Moss. This is a kettle coagulent and will cause some of the proteins to clump together and fall out of solution. At the very end of the boil, I remove the kettle from the heat and add pineapple juice, as shown. If the level of the wort is very low, I may add make up water.

When you have a full boil, make your first hops addition. Toss them right into the brew kettle. Watch carefully, if you're going to get a boilover now is the time! (If that happens, pull the kettle off the stove for a minute.) In this case, I only do one addition: .75 ounces of Bullion hops, 8% Alpha acid. I'm shooting for around 30 IBU's. That stands for International Bitterness Units and can really only be measured by a lab---but most books on brewing (The Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian is good to have) will give you some idea of final bitterness, which varies with the starting alpha acid content and how long the boil is. I use pellet hops mostly.

For most brews, when you've emptied your sparge water, and it's drained into the brewkettle, put about 1 gallon or so of clean water into your small pot and heat it on the left burner. This will be your make-up water, which you may or may not be using. (In this recipe I didn't use this step, so I got a stronger brew.) Place your brewkettle back on the burners and set them to high. It will take a while to bring it to a rolling boil, as above.

The lauter tun (white bucket) has a hose coming out of the bottom. It has a small device on the hose that restricts the flow of the wort. We want the sparge process to take at least 30 minutes, so set your timer again. A nice, slow sparge is what we're aiming for. We're collecting our wort in the brewkettle.

Right. What's a sparge? Well, that's when you rinse the sugars out of the grain. The trick is to keep the lauter tun full of water from your sparge pot.

When you've completed the mash time, put the mash into into the lauter tun. I use a big stainless steel dipper for this step. Then, clean out the mash tun using hot water only, no soap! Place it below your lauter tun to collect the wort. By this time, your sparge water should be fairly hot. Make sure it isn't boiling. Since I use one larger pot and one smaller, I can mix the hotter water with the cooler water in the larger pot. Don't worry too much about getting the temperature exactly so, I like mine around 168 F. This will feel hot to the touch, don't stick your hand in it until you've had a bit of practice!

Next, cover the mash tun and set your kitchen timer for 60 minutes. Some people go 45 minutes, others longer. This is what's called a single infusion mash, we'll do it all at one temperature. You should have a beer while you wait. Above is the plastic screen on the bottom of the lauter tun.

When the water gets to the desired temperature, remove the mash tun from heat. Add the grist all at once, and stir with your long handled plastic or steel spoon. It should look like porridge or oatmeal, more or less.

I check the temperature of the water as it heats. It's important not to get it too hot, or you'll get bad starch conversion. You'll need to experiment a bit to find the optimal mix, generally if I want to get the mash to 150 degrees (F) then I heat the water to around 160 F. Those little digital thermometers are great, for about $10 or less they read the temperature in seconds. Set the burners under the mash tun on high, set the burners under the sparge water to medium.

After putting your water in the brewkettle, get enough containers for sparging. I figure 3 plus gallons will do the trick. This recipe is for 5 gallons, by the way...

This is my brewkettle, and also my mash tun. It's a very inexpensive brewkettle, around $30. When you put in your water, use about 1 quart for each pound of grain. I also add a teaspoon of gypsum to buffer the water.

What's in the grist: This time it's a very simple recipe, because I want most of the flavor to come from the pineapple. The grist contains 7 pounds of Briess 2 row pale malt. Next, I place a metal contraption (in this case a lawn sign frame) over the two burners. This will keep my brew from scorching. You can use a hanger twisted into a cloverleaf if you like; be forewarned that the first time you use it the varnish will burn, so you might want to torch it first.

Here's the bucket filled with grist.

Starting right from the beginning, here's a photo of my mill, which is bolted onto a desk I bought from U of M for $2 and cut a hole in. There's a bucket underneath to catch the grist, and a big funnel over the bucket. This was a big improvement over trying to put the mill directly over the bucket.

Er, almost!

2006-08-31T09:37:00.000-04:00

So I'm a bit late on the pineapple process. It's one of those impossible circular links, wherein: I just need a photo of the grain mill to finish the article, to take the picture I need to clean up the table it's on, the table doesn't get cleaned, the photo isn't taken, the article then is not posted. Harumph. The solution? Probably publish the article without the grain mill!

Forthcoming: Pineapple Surprise

2006-08-27T08:46:00.000-04:00

The pineapple beer is done. It had a starting gravity of 1.053 and finished at 1.012. The bitterness is close to 30 IBU's, which I was worried would be too high---but the beer is still very malty. The pineapple flavor is quite mild, with a slight acidic zing. Today I'll publish a photographic step by step of the process.

Beerfest Review

2006-08-25T09:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a review of the movie Beerfest on Beer Advocate.

Bottling and Carbonation

2006-08-25T08:29:00.000-04:00

Once you've got a batch of brew in the carboy, you'll notice that the airlock happily bubbles away for a couple of days. Then, the bubbling slows. There are two ways to determine if your beer is done. The first is to take measurements with a hydrometer. If the specific gravity is the same for three days in a row, you can be pretty sure it's finished. If you don't have a hydrometer, no worries. Once the rate of bubbling has slowed to one every 90 seconds, you can feel confident that bottling time is nigh. If for any reason it isn't convenient to bottle that day, no problem. The beer can sit for a month in the carboy if necessary---though it would be best to bottle sooner. One other comment I think I missed---try to keep the temperature of your fermenting brew under 74 degrees F. Strange tastes can develop if the brew gets too warm! You'll need the following supplies to bottle five gallons of beer:

1. 60 twelve ounce bottles or equivalent in big bottles
2. 3/4 cup of corn sugar or 1.25 cups dry malt extract or 60 Cooper's carbonation drops. (you can use other things, but don't!) I've found that corn sugar is the best.
3. More than 60 caps. Buy a whole sack.
4. A capper, any design
5. A five gallon racking bucket, with a nozzle preferably.
6. Some hose to go on the nozzle
7. An autosiphon or hose for siphoning.
(Incidentally, I'll be posting photos of all this gear later in the blog.)

Hopefully, you have already secured some beer bottles, preferably the dark brown glass. You can use whatever size you like, of course---but when you've bottled as much as I have, you're going to like the large bottles better. (In fact, I've gotten down to ONE big bottle, but that's another story.) You need to make sure the bottles are thoroughly sanitized, and the labels removed. Bass Ale bottles are my favorite, the labels come right off. Eventually, you'll learn to rinse bottles after you're done drinking the beer three times. This will keep mold away so that cleaning becomes easier when it's time to bottle.

The way I do the cleaning is to fill a large wash tub with hot water, and add two ounces of bleach. Then submerge the bottles. Let them soak until the labels come off easily. You will need to rinse the bottles in hot tap water to get any nasty goop out, and also to eliminate any chlorine that may remain inside. Do that before filling the bottles.

There are a couple of different bottle rinsing devices on the market, one is a small brass piece that screws on the faucet, the other is a connector with a hose and long plastic wand. I use the latter because you can also clean the carboy with it.

The yeast will have dropped to the bottom of your carboy in large part, but some still remains suspended in the beer. You'll need to give it something else to eat, which we call priming, so that you'll get the beer properly carbonated. That's where the corn sugar comes in. First, sanitize the bucket with a chlorine mix and rinse with hot tap water. Make sure you work the valve when draining both, so that the valve is sanitized as well.

Take a small saucepan and bring to a boil one pint of water mixed with the corn sugar or dry malt extract, if you are not using carbonation drops. Let the mix boil for a couple of minutes and remove from heat.

Pour this mix into the bottom of the bucket. Place the carboy with the beer in it on the counter above the bucket. Place the siphon into the carboy and the tube end into the bucket and begin transferring the beer into the bucket, on top of the primer mix. Sanitize your plastic spoon and have it available. When the beer is finished transferring (now and forever after called "racking"!) place the carboy somewhere else, and put the bucket on the counter.

Now you're ready to bottle. You can either attach the hose to the bucket nozzle, or just use the same siphon as you used to rack the beer to the bucket. The nozzle/valve method is a bit easier at first, but after you get the hang of cutting off the flow of beer by bending the hose, that's easy too.

Stir the mix in the bucket with your sanitized plastic spoon, then put beer into bottles. Cap them. In 7 days, your beer should be ready for drinking. Easy, right?

If you want, you can sanitize a mason jar and pour the yeast at the bottom of your carboy into it. Don't screw the jar top on tightly, leave it loose. Put the jar in the refrigerator for your next batch of beer. It will stay good for about a week.

Making Beer: What Every Man, Woman, and Child Should Know*

2006-08-16T10:18:00.000-04:00

Today I'd like to cover making beer at home with malt extract. Extract comes as a dried powder or in cans. Before we get to the benefits of each, let's look at the process of brewing. Brewing has four stages: Mash, Boil, Ferment, and Condition. It's easy to remember these steps with the simple saying: My Butt Feels Clammy. When you use an extract, the mashing has been done for you, so you'll skip this step.

Now, to make beer, you'll need a pot to boil it in. If you have a three gallon pot or bigger, that's best, but a smaller pot will do---not much smaller than two gallons, though. (This will help prevent boil overs, which are icky.)

You'll also need two other pieces of gear, a six gallon glass bottle (called a carboy)and an airlock. The big glass bottle will probably cost $15-$20, and the airlock (a small plastic object) costs around $2.50. You'll need a long handled plastic or steel spoon to stir with, but I'll bet you have one of those at home---otherwise add it to the list. You'll need a funnel and a sieve too. (I'll give you a place to get everything at the end.)

Back to the extract. Liquid extract comes in cans, in either hopped or unhopped varieties. The hopped varities are usually referred to as "kits". They come with a packet of dried yeast, and as their name implies, they also have hops included. Plus, they often have a style pictured on the label. For example, you can find Stout, Porter, Amber, and other flavors already formulated for you. Extracts such as these are a good place to start out. One thing I've noticed, and that is the mixture at five gallons tends to be a bit weak for my taste. So, to adjust the amount of alcohol, you can either add less water or get two cans of extract. I have had good luck with Munton's and Edme, which I believe are made by the same company.

Let's say you've bought the extract, carboy, and airlock and are ready to go. The night before brewing, take two 2.5 gallon containers of water and refridgerate them. You can use any water that's suitable for drinking to make beer. You can buy spring water if you like, especially if it comes with the 2.5 gallon container around it! You will be using 5 gallons of water, more or less, for your recipe. Any containers you use for the water need to be sanitized with a bleach and water mixture, then rinsed with hot tap water, unless they come from the store with water already in them. You will also need to sanitize and rinse the container in which you reconstitute your dried yeast, unless you buy liquid yeast apart from the "kit".

Next day, take your pot (now cunningly called the "brewpot") and put hot water from the tap into it. Place the can of extract in the water and let it sit for 30 minutes or so, to make the extract easier flowing. Now dump out the hot water from the pot, and put a gallon to a gallon and a half of cold water into the pot. Place the pot on the stove and turn it on high. As the water gets too hot to hold your finger in, open the can of extract and add it to the water slowly, while stirring with your steel or plastic spoon. (never use a wooden spoon as it may harbor bacteria)

Reconstitute your yeast, following the instructions on the package. The packet should have come with your "kit". If you bought a liquid yeast apart from the kit, follow the instructions on the yeast with regard to warming time.

Bring the mixture (now called "wort") to a boil and keep it there for 30 minutes. (Some extracts may say not to bother boiling, but ignore them.) Remove the brewpot from the heat.

Before you use the carboy (coming up!) you'll need to disinfect it, along with the airlock, using a solution of 2 ounces of bleach and 5 gallons of water. You can do the carboy first, then pour a few pints into a plastic container to rinse off the airlock, funnel, and sieve. Leave the airlock, funnel, and sieve in the container with the bleach for now. Pour the remaining bleach mixture down the drain. Take about a quart of hot water from the tap and rinse out the carboy, then dump that down the drain as well. Put the carboy onto some newspapers on the floor. Remove the funnel from the solution and rinse it in hot water from the tap.

Place the funnel in the carboy. Rinse the sieve in hot water from the tap and place the sieve in the funnel. Now, pour your 2.5 gallons of chilled water into the carboy. Next, pour the wort (hot stuff in the pot!) into the carboy through the sieve and funnel. Add any remaining water from your starting 5 gallons to the carboy at this time. Remove the sieve and add your yeast to the mix. Remove the funnel.

Remove the airlock from the bleach mix, rinse with hot water from the tap, and add about 3/4 of an inch of water inside the airlock. (If your airlock wasn't in pieces before, you'll need to take the top off to do this.) Put the airlock back together and insert the bung end (rubber part) into the carboy. Place the carboy in a dark space (or just out of the sun). You may shake the carboy up some to get better aeration (more about that later!) but you're done for now, congratulations! In 24 to 36 hours, your wort should begin to ferment. It will go on this way for up to 10 days, at which time you'll be ready to bottle it. We'll cover that in the next post. For now, here is one place to get everything you need to make beer:
Things Beer. Feel free to call them and ask any questions you might have. Or email me at: amused at umich dot edu.

Cheers!

Kevin

*Not that a child, necessarily, has to know how to make beer. But you just never know, a situation COULD, in theory, arise.

Now you are here!

2006-08-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my new blog, Planet Beer. In it, I'll be discussing how to make beer, how to start a brewery, and other beer related topics. Look for new stuff soonest!