Whoa....

...remember when I kept up with this thing? I imagine if I had any readership whatsoever that they have given up on me by now...

I suppose when one starts working in the beer industry professionally, coming home and blogging about homebrewing after a long day's work just isn't at the top of my priority list. That isn't to say that I've stopped making beer at home (which was an appropriate worry getting into this job). To the contrary, I've been fairly hard at work getting everything around for my sister's wedding on October 6th, for which I'm brewing (or have brewed) five batches of beer, two batches of soda, and about 50 bottles worth of wine, over the last couple of months. Here's the lineup:

For the beer: 1) A batch of Old Ale from waaay back saved for exactly this type of special occasion. 2) Hannah, my American Wheat, always a crowd pleaser. 3) A pale ale with German hops. 4) A very tasty Tart Cherry Stout with Traverse City cherries. 5) and a special wedding ale to be revealed at a later date.

Additionally, there is a batch of all-natural vanilla root beer, several cases of Viognier, and one last pending soda that is still up in the air. Whew.

For the future, brewing will more than likely slow down, considering the new apartment and the difficulty of brewing without a back deck or porch, but I would certainly like to get in a few batches of some winter type beers (Scotch ale, perhaps bring back the all-Munich oaked stock ale for another run) before the snow outside makes it all but impossible to feasibly brew. So until then...

June News

Not much for recent brews, just the Malt Liquor this past Saturday. I've been meaning to brew more, but my weekends have been occupied. The last brew could have gone better: I lost propane 20 minutes (instead of 60) into the boil, just as a massive thunderstorm rolled through, so I didn't get the boil down volume to where I had intended, which will affect the strength of the formerly 8% beer (but will stay within typical malt liquor range) and the effect of the hops. A shorter boil for my 60 minute hops (the beer's only hop addition) will mean less bitterness and slightly more flavor. This could be good or bad; it all depends on the specific characteristics of the final product. Right now, primary fermentation is winding down; the beer got a charge of powdered amylase enzyme in the primary to break up dextrins and starches throughout the fermentation, drying the beer out as per usual in malt liquors. As a result, I'll have to be extra patient to make sure the fermentation is complete before moving it into secondary and letting it sit a short while.

Other than that, Annabelle is now on tap, lightly carbed and tasting terrific. Finally nailed down that recipe...and an empty tap will probably hold the Rozenbier in the near future, though I'm worried that an inconsistant mash really ended up making this beer turbid and starchy, which may affect its flavor significantly. But time will tell.

On deck: another Hannah, Icarus (strong, Belgian honey wheat) and preparations for Sarah's wedding!

Unofficially Summer

So I haven't been particularly diligant in updating the brewlog, but with exams and graduation, thesis presentations, papers, and new job stuff, brewing (or writing about brewing) hasn't been tip top priority.

New job! Of course, the first line of business. I feel like I've written about this on here already, but a quick glance proves otherwise. I guess I've just been telling everybody I see on an everyday basis, but to make it Dierksenkougan official: I got a job at the plant at Bell's! And not a crappy, bottle-monkey, line slave position, but a learning-intensive, meaningful job as a cellarman (which deals with everything in between brewing and packaging, namely fermentation foremost, as well as filtering, carbonating, dry-hopping, yeast cell counts, and lots and lots of transferring with giant complex German hoses that I haven't quite figured out yet. I finished my first official day today, half safety training and the rest of the day shadowing various other cellarmen in their daily duties; today I did a CIP (clean in place) with parecetic acid to a 200 bbl tank to get it ready for a batch of Oberon, and learned how to count tiny little yeast cells (both dead and alive) to determine proper pitching rates for the brewers and figure out yeast vitality. Cool, nerdy stuff. Looks from here that it'll be a weekday 9 to 5 job, forty hours a week, so full-time, with a nice full benefits package, and some good work experience in one of the nation's top breweries. All in all, a great experience, especially just coming out of college.

On that note, I graduated, as long as my grades that are released tomorrow are on par, which they should be. Yep, not that exciting.

What else...what else...Hannah's on tap, and as I'm typing this, I'm kinda wanting one. A very good batch, exactly what I was shooting for, and really took well to being put on draft. A nice long-lasting head, perfect orange color, good wheaty full flavor. I imagine it will go fast. Also on tap is Dierksenkougan's first soda, with extra special thanks to Matt Troup for putting the hard work in by squeezing 4 pounds of limes and lemons. Dk Limonade is all natural, just filtered water, sugar, and fresh lemon and lime juice, carbonated up like crazy on my dual-gauge. Very popular around here. I like it especially with whiskey (of course). I was sure to buy a new stainless steel shank (the beer shanks are chrome) to handle the acidity. Making soda is super fast, and really easy, and it tastes great, and its nice just to have some on tap for when we want it, so I imagine that we'll make more pretty soon. I'd like to make another fruity pop, but there are some demands for a homemade root beer, but I might squeeze in an orange cream or raspberry soda before that, depending on how things pan out digging up the right root beer ingredients, which apparently contain up to 17 different obscure plant roots and leaves and so forth.

Nothing brewed since the last post...the Rozenbier ("Rose Beer" in Dutch) is happily sitting in a cold secondary. I haven't given her a taste quite yet, as I've had enough beer to keep my kegs full and ready to swap out. I imagine she'll fill the position of whatever's next to go, though I'm tempted to keg Annabelle soon, since I'm itching to have her on tap for the first time.

Old ale is still on deck, as with the Malt Liquor. Other ideas include a hoppy pale ale with lots of German hops (a German Blend similar in premise to my American Blend I use in Big Sky IPA), as well as a strong Belgian wheat beer made with a substantial amount of honey, sort of like a summerized tripel, possibly with similar German hops or perhaps some strong American varieties to give it some IPA-like character. Bell's Right and Left Bank Ales, which are both outstanding, are the primary inspiration.

Happy Graduation to everyone who did, and hopefully this summer brings lots of beautiful, early Saturday morning brew days to write about very soon. I'm hoping the new job doesn't curb my enthusiasm for brewing on my time off, but I don't suppose it will.

Take care,
Sam

Invitation to Drink

Just so it's out there, this is an invitation to any and all to come over to the house at 1210 California and have a drink on me. The draft system is up and running with four kegs (I think on tap right now are: Brown Ale, Scottish 80-/, Big Sky IPA, and the Stock Ale), with plenty of finished beer ready to replace whatever runs out, including a new Amber Ale (Rachel 3?) and, when that's finished, the return of Hannah, our summer wheat. So, yeah, anytime.

Brewed an Easter experiment. A fellow homebrew store employee thought I should make an ale with jellybeans and marshmallow peeps, but I stuck instead to a Belgian pale ale, using my favorite Bastogne yeast, with some rose hips for an experimental flavor. I'm thinking it'll resemble something like a cranberry weizen when its all said and done, but not quite. I felt like mixing it up a bit, I guess. She was bubbling away like crazy this morning, so we'll have to put her in a keg and get her going as soon as possible (that's when you come in...)

'Splode!

Got my first official exploder yesterday. But not to worry, Hannah will be fine. With all that goop flying out, you can be assured that not too much in the way of bacteria and such is getting in...

Thesis Results and More...

Well, the first order of business: Thank you everybody who came out to support my big thesis presentation, and my apologies to the few who I literally couldn't afford to invite. It was on a budget, after all. The event was a huge success, with lots of good food and good beers, and of course, good friends. And on top of it all, I get to keep the draft system! What a deal! I'll post some pictures of the event soon in a photo album; there are already a few floating around on Facebook, but I'll compile them all somewhere, as I have to make a scrapbook of the dinner for the Honors College anyway to get the last portion of my stipend.

With that off my shoulders, it's been awhile since I've actually brewed regularly, but it looks like I'm back into the swing of things. Upon a poor showing on a hearing anatomy test this morning at 8:00am, I decided to skip my following class and make some beer instead to cheer myself up. And, as yesterday was the official release day of Bell's Oberon (my first as an employee...yikes...), I whipped up my own summer wheat beer. That's right, Hannah's back. I'd like to get her in a keg as soon as possible, and start drinking her in no less than three weeks. It should be more than possible. And she's a bit of a rehashed recipe, since the last all grain version was brewed with little understanding of the process, and was pretty miserable as far as flavor (I still have some bottles sitting around, thin and overcarbonated...) but this one should be considerably more impressive.

And I'm not done yet: I think I'm shaping up to brew again tomorrow, as today's brewing session, with new burner and converted keg brew pot, was faster than previously expected. 4 hours start to finish, which is pretty incredible for an all grain batch. If I get to it, tomorrow I'll be brewing my take on a malt liquor, half as an experiment in a much snubbed beer style, and half as a personal guilty pleasure. I mean, I would love to have an official beer pong beer on draft! Dry and boozy...I'm experimenting with some new techniques, including a cereal mash (with frozen corn no less), which is a method of converting raw adjunct grains like corn and rice and such into soluble starch that can be then converted in the mash to sugars. Basically, I'll boil the smack out of the corn for 20 minutes until it turns into a mushy, starchy goo, and add it directly to the regular barley mash. The barley will work its magic over an hour, and voila, corn based sugar that is incredibly fermentable, resulting in a dry, alcohol rich beer that is super light in body and flavor. Steel Reserve! Add that to the punch of amylase enzyme (in the form of our good old friend Bean-O) directly to the primary fermentor, which will continue to break down long, unfermentable dextrins into shorter, fermentable sugars over the course of the fermentation. This, apparently, is a regular trick of the trade for malt liquor brewers. Instead of clean lager yeast, which may take several months of cold conditioning to taste even drinkable, I'll use some equally neutral ale yeast at a cool temperature, followed by some super-tolerant champagne yeast to finish it off. Also apparently a trick of the malt likka trade. I've done my research.

Other than that, I transferred Annabelle (#4!) while brewing this morning, and think I may have nailed her spot on this time. The substitute European ale yeast for my typical house yeast (Edinburgh) was a good decision: the resulting beer smells and tastes maltier, and less dried out, than have previous batches. Some very careful temperature control and a retooled recipe seem to have also paid off. That one will be sitting around for some time, but hopefully in a few months or so I'll be able to throw her in a keg (which I'm in dire need of buying more of).

On deck, certainly an old ale to add to the cellar so I'll have some monster beers for the colder months this year. The last version, my Stock Ale, was oaked for several months, but this version I'll likely make oak free, brewing it very much like Annabelle, but with less dark malt and more hops, and significantly more aging for that chewy, vinous character. In addition, I'd like to get an amber on tap soon, as my Transatlantic Amber is hanging out in secondary awaiting a free faucet.

It's warm outside, and brewing season has clearly begun! Come on by anytime and have a draft beer on me if you're in the Kalamazoo area.


Sam

Draft System!

Here it is, in a near state of completion. The kegs are charging up with CO2 for a few days before I hook up the beer lines to the shanks...





As for specs, the system holds four corny kegs (5-gallon homebrewing kegs) and a huge 10# CO2 tank (big enough that I shouldn't have to fill it more than twice a year, if that). It's built upon a 7.0 cubic foot GE chest freezer, temperature controlled with a Johnson external thermostat. The faucets are Perlick stainless steel forward seal taps, which was my splurge. These faucets seal at the front of the faucet, which keeps bacteria from growing internally within the tap, and because they're stainless steel, I can use them in the future for wine or soda, if I choose to run it on draft (which I most certainly will). The regulator is also worth noting: a triple guage double regulator, which allows me to be more specific with my carbonation levels, so I can carb a Scottish ale or barleywine nice and low, and make my wheat beers, tripels, and soda extra fizzy. Currently in the system are the beers for the dinner, which is going on March 24th. Left to right we've got the Tripel, Babybelle (Scottish 80-/), Big Sky IPA, and Eva (10-Malt Brown Ale). Everything but the Scottish ale are set at a moderate 2.2 volumes of CO2 right now, and the Scottish is around 1.5 (I think, I can't quite remember). More news to come as I shell out more money for more goodies.

Babybelle

First, there's a drawn distinction between Scotch ales (the near-black, syrupy malty low-hopped high-gravity beers of Scottish origin) and Scottish ales, the session ales also of Scottish origin. Scottish ales are brewed in the same vein of thought: low fermentation temperatures and low attenuating yeast for full bodied maltiness; low hopping rates due to high historical taxation on imported hops; and long periods of cold conditioning for a clean, yeast-neutral palate. The major difference, however, is that while Scotch ales reign among the strongest of beer styles alcohol-wise (usually above 8% all the way to 13% and higher), Scottish ales are among the weakest, designated by their respective taxation: there are 60-/, 70-/, and 80-/ versions (-/ meaning "shilling"). 60-/ are never stronger than 3.2% alcohol by volume, which is at about the level of a very flavorful Bud Light.

Babybelle (named after its big sister Annabelle, my Scotch rye ale), is my newest recipe, a Scottish 80 Shilling, which should fall in the very sessionable 4.0% ABV range. The intention is for this beer to be just barely finished fermenting and aging by the beer pairing event, as it would go impeccably well with the roasted wild mushroom soup: all those earthy, savory flavors would pair amazingly with the small bit of smoked malt in the beer along with the cutting power of its gentle malt sweetness. There's a chance it won't be finished in time, in which case something will have to be substituted, but I'm hoping for the best.

But anyway, I'm brewing as I type, and it's time to drain the mash and get boiling...

V-Day Tripel

Oh wonderful Valentine's Day, when this year I spent the day doing what I prefer doing: brewing beer. And not what I don't, namely: going to class. Fearing the foot of snow accumulation on our back deck, and the less-than-impressive performance of my propane burner lately in subzero temperature, I woke up at a bleary-eyed 9:00am (earlier than I would have to wake to go to class) just to throw on some strike water and do a painstaking, 6 hour brew indoors. But, Hell, it all worked out. By 3:00pm I had five gallons of my 9% booze-baby Bastogne Tripel all ready to ferment. I hope to return home to some crazy bubbling activity after work today, provided the old yeast had enough umph in it to get the job done (and hopefully it does, since the right seasonal yeast for this beer doesn't come out until November of this year).

As far as other stuff, no word yet on the draft system. I was supposed to know by last Wednesday, got word from Dr. Hearit yesterday saying he'd figure it all out today, and still no word. I'm hoping that doesn't mean "I don't care enough," and I know he's a busy man, but I'll find out when I find out. How much can you bug somebody to hurry it up when they're giving you free money, right?

Lastly, speaking of propane performance, I made a rather spontaneous decision this week while browsing Amazon.com for new propane burner setups and bought up a 210,000 BTU burner (enough to keep 20 gallons at a consistent, rolling boil) as a little gift for myself. I hope to try it out as soon as I make a trip up to Traverse City to have my buddy's dad lop some lids of some stainless steel Anhauser Busch kegs, transforming them into two 15.5 gallon stainless brewing kettles for ten bucks apiece. There are probably some laws against this that I'm more than willing to ignore.

That's pretty much it. Threw in about 3-4oz. of toasted French oak chips into the stock ale this morning after soaking them in some cheap vodka (just to sanitize--hopefully flavor transference won't be an issue). A good month on those, then kegged up, it'll taste like we're drawing it straight from the cask. Mmm...

Next up: Something dark, and soon. Hopefully this Sunday, But I'll have to make room. Every 5 gallon carboy I own is filled to the brim.

Eva, IPA, and Draft Beer

Apparently I was mistaken in calling the weather cold when brewing Rachel awhile back, as I had a little trouble keeping pressure on my propane tank, because this past Sunday was seriously frigid. In fact, too cold (as I discovered 1 1/2 hours later) to bring 6 gallons of beer to a boil. Only after pumping out most of my available propane, wasting good hours of my weekend, and scorching the shit out of my brewpot did I throw in the towel and do a double boil on the worthless gas burners of my stovetop. But frustrations aside, the result should be a clone copy of my Big Sky IPA, this batch of which will be getting entree treatment at the beer pairing in March. The only difference is a yeast substitution (Burton Ale for Edinburgh ale), which should leave the overall flavor/body profile rather similar, with perhaps a bit more fruitiness in the background. Not like I had a shortage of my house yeast; I have six vials in my fridge waiting for a beer. A mistake shipment from White Labs at work yeilded some free yeast when they showed no apparent interest in us sending their package back. So I took more than I needed for the time being, including five vials of German Lager yeast for a possible Maibock to be brewed late winter, possibly by the vice-brewmaster herself.

Besides that charade, I brewed up another Eva the week before, revamped like I'd done to Rachel, but not nearly to the same extreme; just changing some proportions of grain that were too strong in the finished product, substituting some flaked oats for creaminess and body, and substituting neutral British hops for the American Chinook hops that ended up taking on a sour note in the finished product. This also got the Burton Ale yeast treatment (as opposed to its usual prime of two packets of generic dry yeast) just out of curiosity for a new yeast. This batch of Eva will likely be paired up with the soup course of the beer dinner, since nothing sounds better to me than a big earthy brown ale (I should have added some rye malt, now that I think of it) and a big earthy mushroom soup.

Rachel, as it stands, is hanging out in a carboy just mellowing out until she meets her packaging fate. Either she'll be bottle about a month before the dinner (end of February), or, if plans/finances with building a draft system come through, she'll go into a corny keg as soon as the purchase is made. (Granted, Rachel isn't on the menu, but she could serve as a good substitute for the IPA in the rare case of a botched batch or infection) As of now, I'm eagerly awaiting a meeting a week from now with the Associate Dean of the Honors College (who is responsible for the committee awarding me my $1200 grant) to request an additional $600 of funding in order to have the beer available on portable draft at the event, which would be more logical and definately classier, and the construction of which would leave me with some vestige of my accomplishments after it all is said and done, so I could serve beer on draft at other occasions into the future (including my sister's wedding in October '07). Bottom line: very cool. And since Dr. Hearit (the Associate Dean) has been getting some pretty intensive milage out of my thesis idea with the incoming WMU freshmen, who clearly like the idea of an Honors College that supports their students making booze, I'm feeling confident that I might be able to talk some good business with him.

Next up: Tripel, then some sort of dessert beer that won't take more than two months. Unfortunately, I've procrastinated a bit on this one...but I'm sure I can come up with something decent for the event. Perhaps a nice smooth stout, or something lighter on the opposite end of the spectrum. You'll know when I know.