That's never happened before

but it seems like it should of.

Saturday of the Memorial day weekend I spent brewing my Whiskey Barrel Stout.
First off I discovered that the oak chips are added during the fermentation stage, cause I really wasn't sure when they would be added.  I read something about adjuncts in beer that gave the distinct impression that this one is going to sit in the secondary fermenter for at least 3 weeks.  The longer it sits the more of a whiskey taste I will get. 

In the same book, "The Joy of Home Brewing", I was reading up on whole grain brewing when I read something interesting.  In the beginning there is grain.  (Most kits are partial grain partial extract.)  This grain behaves way differently in different conditions while attempting to leach all the sugars and enzymes from it.  Bases on what I read if I lower the temperature at which I am steeping the grains I will get a better alcohol content with a lighter body.  Since this is supposed to taste like whiskey anyway I would assume that higher alcohol content would be a good thing. 

While steeping the grains the enzymes in the grains are working to convert germ in the grain to the usable sugars and nutrients that would be needed for germination, if I wasn't about to boil the hell out of it.  The longer I let it sit at the lower temperature the more ferment able sugars will be produced and there by the higher the proof of the beer will be.

So taking this knowledge I keep the temp lower while I was steeping the grains in this kit.  I usually try to keep things about 150 F but almost always get over 160 F.  I kept the temp down to 130 F this time around although actual temp was probably closer to 135 F, I didn't keep the thermometer in the wort long enough to for it to stop moving totally but it was slowing way down by 130 F.

Now that it has been in the fermenter for 5 days the bulk of fermenting is over and something happened that was different.  The fermentation was so strong at points that I wound up with beer yeast blow off in my air lock.  This has never happened to me before, but given what I remember from the few brewery tours I have taken it suddenly seems strange that it has never happened before.  From the few brewery tours I have taken I have seen many a fermenter bubbling out foam and undissolved yeast along with the CO2 by product of fermentation. 

I would like to say that this change to something that more mimics what I have seen in bigger commercial breweries is a sign that I did right by lowering the temperature, but for late May in Michigan it has been shockingly hot, I already have had my first sun burn of the year, so the exceptional temperature of my apartment may also be playing a role in the fermentation.

P.S.  Michigan is not back to normal for this time of the year.  It is 70 during the day, 40 at night, and overcast and raining.

Why is it still flat?

I have to admit I was really anticipating my latest brew creation.  I really like Hobgoblin Ale and wanted to try my attempt at copying it ASAP, but I bottled it on a Monday and was opening up my first bottle of it that Friday.  4 to 5 days is not long enough for this beer to be carbonated and ready to drink.

I opened up a second bottle of it today, after 12 days, and this was much better. 

The beer still did not have the flavor I was really going for but it is okay.  I tell that I put in way more chocolate malt then I should have and I actually think this is a good comparison for what an extra 4 oz of chocolate malt can do.

My next brew is also going to incorporate something new that I have not tried before, Oak Chips.  This is a kit and is called Whiskey Barrel Stout.

On a related but altogether different note....

I bought a 5 gallon paint bucket from Home Depot a while back and had been tossing all my spent grain, as well as orange peals apple cores and other "organic" trash, in to this bucket.  Like three weeks ago I bought some live worms from Wal Mart's fishing section to add to the bucket.  I was outside today working on my inner city garden, the planters and window boxes on the balcony to my apartment, and happened to look in the bucket to notice those worms have eaten through most of the grain and other compost ables I had in there.  In fact I scooped some of it out of the bucket to add to a new hanging planter I bought and saw worm larvae, a sure sign the worms are reproducing and healthy.

It might be a lame thing to be excited about I am excited that my worm compost idea is working.

Whiskey in my beer.

I am about to bottle my second attempt at Hobgoblin beer but had a set back when I noticed none of my friends were rinsing out there bottles after helpping them selves to my fridge.  So I spent my entire Sunday cleaning out caked on mold and bacteria from bottles and boiling them in water.  Not happy was I.

When I went to the local supply store for priming sugar I was looking around and found a new beer kit that caught my attention.  Whiskey Barrel Stout! 

I am a little unsure of when I will try to brew that one, what with mothers day weekend coming up, but I am intreuged.  I have not used oak chips in any brew so far that I have attempted so this kit is going to done very strictly by the included instructions, but I really want to know what the flavor comes out like.

Another kit that caught my attention but which I did not buy was something called Milk Stout.  I box says it uses lactose to give the beer a richer creamy body and head and has me wondering about that flavor as well.

I love Irish Cars when I go to the bars.  For thosethat don't know it is Guiness, Whiskey, and Irish Cream wish the whiskey and cream in a shot that you drop in the Guiness.  I am wondering what the Whiskey Barrel Stout and Milk Stout taste like because I am wondering if I couldn't mix the oak chips with the lactose and some coffee flavoring to make a stout beer that tastes like an Irish Car.

Mulligan, Hobgoblin Ale clone

Redoing the hobgoblin ale that I tried last month.  This time I am using a 7.5 gallon pot and I replaced the 7 lbs of grain with dry malt extract but everything else is the same.  I had an issue getting the grains in to the grain sock for the crystal and chocolate grain and some of the grains spilled in to the pot.  To fix this issue after steeping the grains I will transfer the pot contents to a short term bucket and remove the loose grain from the wort.  I will pour the wort back in to the pot to continue brewing.

Up Date on last weeks brew

The fermentation has not gone as expected.  Usually the first 2 days of fermentation are marked by rapid venting through the air lock, however I have witnessed very slow venting and not to a degree that I would expect. 

Upon looking closer in to all grain brewing I have discovered that I was soaking my grains in less water then recommended and in a pot that is too small.  I am now pricing larger, 7.5 gallon, pots and may buy one later in March.  I also have plans to change the 7 pounds of pale grain to one can of light liquid malt extract and rebrew.

I have not given up on this latest brew yet but expect to be dumping it after the first fermentation depending on what I have.  I am expecting to smell and taste a very weak flavor dominated by hops.

Hobgoblin Ale copy

First off I am repurposing this blog. I used to use this to complain about politics and other issues that were bothering me, but that was not really getting me anywhere so I have decided to scrap doing that.

Instead I am going to use this blog to share my experiences with beer making, tasting, and so on. I am just wrapping up from a very late night brew of a beer style that is supposedly going to taste llike my favorite beer of the moment, Hobgoblin Dark English Ale. Here are my steps in the process so far.


Hobgoblin clone

Heating 3 gallons of water from Meijer osmosis
Added grains at 130 degress
7
pounds pale malt
2
pounds crystal malt
About ½
a pound chocolate malt
Monitoring temperature to keep below 160 for an hour or
until Family Guy, It’s A Trap is over.
After 60 minutes pulled grain from pot and added water,
large water loss from pulling grain sock.
Increased heat to boiling before adding hops.
After boil starts added 1 oz UK Fuggle hops
After 30 minutes from first hops addition added second .75
oz styrian hops
After 20 minutes added the last addition of hops
Let boil for 10 more minutes
Set outside to cool, about 29 outside
Bleach and rinse buckets
Transfer wort to fermenting bucket
Pitch yeast, White Labs, English Ale Yeast
Cover bucket
Set Air lock
Let sit for one and half weeks, will transfer to secondary ferment
bucket Wednesday night the 7th of March.

it is good to know your place.

Even though I am quite a bit upset about it, it is good to know where I rank with my best friend.

Last night I went out by myself for the 4th of July. I asked if she wanted to come along but told her that I did not have the cash to pay for both of us. she informed me that she did not have the money to pay her way so I went alone.

Then things went crazy and suddenly I am being called a liar yelled at via text message.

Anyway it is good to know that once I stop paying for others and asserting my self I am suddenly a liar and rude.

Is it wrong of me to be tired of paying for others to hang out with me. Just saying....

It is good to know that we are only friends if I am buying the drinks.