New Fermenter!

In my constant search for better homebrewing methods, I have come across a great tool.  Fermentation is such a key part of producing good beer and so easy to see go bad in a hurry.  Plus, I typically brew 10-11 gallon batches at a time, thus needing two buckets and two packs of yeast.
I've started using more starters with my brewing which greatly speeds up fermentation as well as reduces the opportunity for infection.  Enter, the new fermenter!

I recently ordered a Speidel Plastic Fermenter from MoreBeer.  This thing has been working great overall so far.  I got the 60L size, which allows me to ferment over 11 gallons at a time with a single vessel.  Here's the good and bad I've seen so far...



The Good:
-I can ferment over 11 gallons at a time (I bet I could do up to 14-15 gallons if I really pushed it).
-Super sturdy.  The handles and structure on this thing are solid!
-Wide open top for easy cleaning and hop additions.
-Valve on front allows for super easy keg filling.
-Way cheaper than a conical.

The Bad:
-Plastic, although I have never had an issue with fermenting in plastic and really more and more startup breweries are using plastic conicals until they can afford stainless steel.
-Not conical.

Overall, that's how it's doing.  I'm currently finishing up my second batch in it and it's awesome.  Easy to clean, works great, super sturdy and a good deal.  I would highly recommend one!  Check one through MoreBeer.com here.

Springtime Aroma Pale Ale

Well, spring is in the air and it has been beautiful here in Portland lately.  Best spring I can remember.  That better not jinx the next three months... I tried a new beer the other day, NWPA from Fort George Brewing.  It was awesome.  Light bitterness with a ton of hop aroma.  There was a large amount of hop particles floating in the beer, that was poured from a can (why breweries filter everything seems strange to me, I like the lack of filtering on a beer like this).  It was delicious.  So naturally, I used that beer to inspire one of my own.

This is a session style beer (4.2%) with only 23 IBU's.  There are a ton of hops in this thing though.  I'm hoping that the aroma and flavor really dominates over the usual crazy bittering I do.  I also didn't do any hop additions at 60 minutes, but let it boil plain for 30 minutes, then added hops at the midway point.  Hopefully that really does something good for the beer.  Anyways, here's the details...

Recipe:
10.5 gallons

Fermentables:
12.5# GW 2-Row
2# Victory
1.5# Carapils
1.5# Crystal 30L

Anticipated OG: 1.044
Actual OG: 1.048
Anticipated FG: 1.010
Actual FG:
Anticipated ABV: 4.5%
Actual ABV:

Hops:
(60 minute boil)
1oz CTZ at 30m
2oz Citra at 5m

2oz Cascade at flameout
2oz Citra at flameout

4oz Cascade dryhop for 7 days
2oz Citra dryhop for 7 days

IBU's: 23

Yeast:
1 pack of Safale US-05 made with 1L starter two days before.

Notes:
4/24/13: Brewed this last Monday (2 days ago).  I'm fermenting this one in a 50L keg with a stopper and an airlock in the bunghole.  So far so good.  Gravity was at 1.019 today which is impressive since I only used one pack of Safale.  I guess the starter is helping out.  It's the first time I've used a starter.  So far the aroma and flavor is exactly what I was going for.

Brewing Series

As part of stepping up my brewing skill set I've recently begun doing much more research into the science behind brewing.  I'm still pretty green going in this as far as the chemistry/science part so I've got a lot to learn.  Luckily my buddy Scott is super into this so he helps put stuff into laymans terms.

In order to learn more and get really indepth we've ordered a couple of books that are much more extensive than I though when we ordered them.  I just started reading the one on Hops and Scott is going to tackle the Yeast edition, then we'll switch.  There's also an edition on Water that is going to be released next month.

We'll be reading these and then reviewing them (so far they seems pretty incredible, although they read more like thesis papers than books).  We'll get to the main ideas and help pass on information.  The one I'm reading first is titled "For The Love of Hops".  Seems like a good book for me to start with since I sure love me some hops!  The series is called Brewing Elements Series and I'm hoping they also write one on barley/malts.

Here's some links to the current volumes available so you can check them out yourself if you're so inclined.  Clicking the links here helps support his site through your Amazon purchases (and costs you nothing extra).  I was not paid by the publishers or authors for putting these up or reviewing these books.  It just seemed like something fun to do!

Cheers!

How to Brew Series

In the coming weeks and months you'll be seeing more info on how to brew, convert kegs, and other general information appearing here.  My buddy Scott and I were thinking about how there's a lot of info on detailed brewing and info on extract brewing, but not as much easily accessible info on how to switch to all grain brewing or how to do basic DIY projects that will save you hundreds of dollars.

There are some websites and books out there that give great detailed info about what happens during the brewing process (chemistry) as well as recipe creation and how to brew (brewing).  We'll try to review some of those for you and post our thoughts on them.

So basically, expect a much wider variety of articles and information to come soon on this blog.  Hopefully we can turn this into a great free place to get down to earth info on brewing as well as recipes, ideas, and other various tidbits.

Cheers!

(Also, if you're looking, here's a couple classic brewing books that are indepth and incredible useful).

Resurrection IPA

Finally, another post about an IPA.  This is going to be my first time brewing with Citra, which seems kind of crazy since it's supposedly such a great IPA hop.  I guess I'll be the judge of that once it's all ready to be tasted.  I'm tempted to wait for Easter to tap this, hence the name.  If this is as good as I hope it is, then what better way to enjoy it than to celebrate the Resurrection!  The citrus-floral aroma while brewing will hopefully highlight the greatest holiday we have.  So here's the details...

Here's a 6 second clip of brewing this...
(if this doesn't play, sorry!)
Recipe:
11 Gallons

Fermentables:
17lb GW 2-Row
7lb Simpsons Golden Promise
3lb Carapils
2lb Crystal 40L

Anticipated OG: 1.068
Actual OG: 1.066
Anticipated FG: 1.017
Actual FG:
Anticipated ABV: 6.6%
Actual ABV:

Hops:
4oz Summit for 90m
2oz Summit for 30m
2oz Citra for 30m
2oz Summit at flameout
2oz Citra at flameout
2oz Amarillo at flameout

2oz Amarillo for 7 days dryhop
2oz Citra for 7 days dryhop

IBU's: 148

Yeast:
Wyeast 1056 American Ale in both buckets

Notes:
Smooth brewing.  Finished in a little over 5 hours, which is pretty good for an 11 gallon batch.  Half the batch is for my buddy Randy who is preparing to head to the Dominican Republic to start a baseball ministry to tell kids about Jesus.  You should check it out and support them here.  He's the one who got me into brewing and helped me out early on.

Behind the ball...

Man, I've been behind on this blog.  I've brewed a couple times since my last post.  I think I've made the Drop Top Amber clone again (for my sister-in-laws wedding which I also performed; I know, I'm a modern Friar Tuck), a ten gallon of a Total Domination variation, and my Black Eye PA.  The recipes can be accessed by following the links as they were remakes of prior brews.

I have a couple new beers I'm working on.  One is going to be a hopped up IPA (so unlike me, huh?) with Summit, Citra, and Amarillo.  I'm pretty excited about it.  I'll post the recipe once I brew it.  The other one is going to be a Westveleteren XII clone.  That one I found online and I'll probably brew at Bean's Brewhouse.  He's got a crazy electric system with super good efficiency and better temp control.  I'll post that as well once I brew it.

Anyways, thanks for being patient and I'll be back in the saddle here shortly.