26

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: November 02, 2009, 02:57:10 am »

I'm still waiting for my bock-ale to mature.  It was still "green" beer a couple weeks ago, although it reminded me of Duvel beer.  Going to try again in a week or two.

The cider I made ended up tasting a bit like apple-stem, which is probably what you get when you use cheap apple juice as the base (some are reputed to be very good, but not in the US).  I think it was still a success in that it fermented and that the yeast settled out in the primary and secondary like crazy.  There is very little trub in the bottles too, so you can pretty much pour out the whole thing into a glass.  I'm going to try it again with quality local cider (and juice concentrate added), using campden tablets (sulfiting agent) and the same yeast type.

27

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: A PET'S TEN COMMANDMENTS.........

« on: October 16, 2009, 06:31:07 pm »

I love my elderly kitty cat and treat her like family, but I just gotta add this:

Pets...

Thou shalt distracteth mine mobs while thy master gatherest mats.

Thou shalt attacketh mine targets, though they are 10 levels too high, whilst thy master escapeth.

28

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: October 13, 2009, 07:37:58 pm »

I have a cider that should be mature in about 1.5 weeks and my bock-ale that should be ready in 4 weeks.  I'm running out of my amber ale.  Hurry up!   

29

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: September 11, 2009, 01:59:33 am »

Yeah, although the local fresh cider over here is really fantastic, it surely contains wild yeast strains and probably still has bacteria if it isn't heat-treated really well.  I think my cider failed because of inadequate heating and/or a poor seal on the fermentation bucket.

I was planning on trying again with concentrate or a combo of that and juice as "turbo cider".  Those commercial apple juice products are probably UV light-pasteurized.  I'm not much of a pear fan, but perry does sound good.

PS.  The Five Star brand Star San sanitizing solution seems to be a good product.  Its a "no rinse" sanitizer too.  Additionally, at very low concentrations (foam left on surfaces), it actually acts as a yeast nutrient.  Umm... when undiluted it also eats through paint pretty quick and probably a lot more.     My hands have never been smoother though.  Good bye, dry skin!   

30

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: September 10, 2009, 08:15:28 pm »

Ooooh, good tips.  Thanks!

31

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: September 06, 2009, 02:05:11 am »

I just picked up a book about beer that was written by a physicist (Froth!, by Mark Denny).  Its well worth a read.  He challenges a lot of conventional wisdom in brewing and makes a lot of good points from his own casual research.  He seems to take a "'good enough' is better than 'perfect'" approach to brewing though, as if he was a manager for software engineers.

Anyhow, I got antsy and brewed an ale-yeast version of a pale Mai Boch with some licorice root added.  I used a "slap pack" style yeast packet (Wyeast #1007 German Ale).  After adding the proofed yeast, the brew was very active just a few hours later.  In Froth!, the author goes into the math surrounding yeast propagation.  Makes a lot of sense.  I think I will forgo using White Labs brand yeast (was nearly a dud when I tried it with my Amber Ale batch, implying that most of the yeast was actually dead when I bought it).   Wyeast slap packs (fast and good) and Safale dry yeast packets (cheap but still good) seem to be a better choice.   

The last time I was in my local homebrew shop, this old guy in a wheelchair made fun of me for buying hops instead of growing my own.  Tempting thought, but there are so many varieties...   

Next, I will either make a Christmas brew or retry making cider.

32

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Is it too early to think about Halloween?

« on: September 03, 2009, 04:22:25 am »

Well, following the trend, it should be something more specific and more obscure.  You know, something that none of the other kids will even recognize, like maybe one of the zombies from "Shaun of the Dead" or something.   

33

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Is it too early to think about Halloween?

« on: September 02, 2009, 02:13:21 am »

I am making a new Harry Potter robe. My son has grown out of his, but still wants to be one. Most of these stupid costumes bought in the store come in only 2 sizes, kids and adualt. We have looked in vain for an owl costume for his little brother, it would have been cute. However he's old enouph now to have an oppion about what he wants to be.

Otherwise bracing myself for the nightmare of my younger son on sugar. Two days after halloween we gather all the ramaining candy up and tos it out and hope the sugar gets out his system before we kill him, and this year since he now in school before he gets suspended.

I use to love Halloween, then I had children.

Averyl

My local grocery store was already stocking half an aisle of Halloween candy in late August.  When I walked by there, I thought "Oh geez, its almost the 31st, I gotta buy candy for all the trick-or-treaters!!! ... oh wait... I'm two months early... and so is QFC.  Thanks."

When I was a kid, one of my neighbors had this petrified wad of year-old Halloween candy.  Their kids couldn't have eaten it even if they wanted to.  Not without an ice-pick, at least.

34

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: September 02, 2009, 02:07:52 am »

I bottled my Amber Ale today.  It smells kind of like an IPA (almost like butterscotch, but less sharp), which is not one of my favorite types, but it will probably still be good. 

I tweaked the recipe a little with the adjunct malts... but not by much.  I'm hoping the final gravity reading I took (equaling about 3.4% ABV), really is the end of the fermentation as expected... or this batch might turn into an explosion of glass and beer.   

35

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: August 23, 2009, 09:53:56 pm »

I've got some malty brown ale that is ready to drink any time (37 bottles left).  If any watchers are near Redmond (WA), they can stop by and pick up some samples.  I also have even more cider, but its not drinkable yet (if ever...).  My amber ale should be ready to drink by about Sept 20th. 


The biggest expense right now is buying enough plain brown bottles (not the twist-off ones).  With 100x 12oz bottles, 5x 64oz growlers, and 10x 22oz bottles, that only allows for about 3x 5gallon batches at any given time.  I can produce this stuff a lot faster than I can drink it.  All that cider is taking up 5 gallons worth of bottles too.  Not sure if that will ever pay off.  It costs me about as much to buy empty brown bottles as it does to buy full ones... but the ones filled with beer seem to be cheaper (thinner glass).


I think I'm going to try another cider and then maybe an ale-yeast version of a Boch-style beer.  I can't do lager unless I move into a house with a cellar or get a 2nd refrigerator.. . which I don't have room for... plus it would probably trip the circuit breaker each time it kicks in and cut the power to my PC or consoles.   

36

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: August 22, 2009, 07:22:34 pm »

Well, I've got an Amber Ale brewing now.  I tweaked the recipe (divided and staggered the addition of hops during the brew) to make it a bit more well-rounded and slightly less bitter.  I used a liquid ale yeast this time.  I had never used one of those before.  They cost like 3x more than the dry ale yeast packets, but give different results.  It took nearly 24 hours for it to show signs of activity, which had me pretty worried.  Would be a shame for the batch to go to waste.  I spent about 2.5 hours on the whole brewing process yesterday.

37

General Discussion / Re: Anyone attending PAX?

« on: August 22, 2009, 02:56:22 am »

PAX is the biggest game convention in America, IIRC.  I think the last one was bigger than E3.  Plus its a convention for gamers and fans, not for the media.  It was founded by the guys behind Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/).

http://www.paxsite.com/

38

General Discussion / Re: Anyone attending PAX?

« on: August 21, 2009, 05:28:06 pm »

I wish.  I've been meaning to go for years.  I even knew one of the enforcers once.  He said he could get me a free pass.  I am so stupid.   

39

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: August 03, 2009, 05:19:01 pm »

Well, you can make cider with the naturally-occurring yeasts in the fruit itself.  If you don't chemically-preserve, pasteurize, or heat-treat the juice, it will have natural yeast.  I used heat-treatment in my batch (low heat, not considered pasteurization).  In other words, you CAN take raw apple juice, put it in a fermenter, and let it do its thing.  Adding sugar just raises the alcohol level, while adding yeast changes the fermentation process and leads to different flavors and properties.  Other additives are just for manipulating the outcome.  Some people add cinnamon sticks for flavor, some add enzymes for clearing the yeast.  It can be simple or complex.  I hear that relying on natural yeast is a hit-or-miss proposition though.

There was definitely a lot of evolution involved in the history of beer.  Using hops was a continental improvement.  British ales used to use other herbs as bittering agents.  Using hops instead makes a lot of sense since it has so much flavor and acts as a natural preservative.  (Mmmm... fresh hops smell so good...)

I found another recipe for cider that looks even stronger and better managed.  Now I gotta try it once the Summer heat winds down.  I am such a sucker.  This is one hobby that can easily explode... metaphorically . 

40

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: August 03, 2009, 05:53:37 am »

Both my cider and brown ales have carbonated by now.  The cider is supposed to be drinkable now, while the brown ale is supposed to bottle-condition for another two week.  I decided to try both of them.  Here are the results:

The cider didn't seem to have carbonated, which would imply that the yeast was dead (very possible, since it brewed for almost 3 weeks).  FYI, you carbonate homebrew by adding a small amount of some type of sugar just prior to bottling, which the remaining yeast will eat and turn into more CO₂.  Also, the cider tasted terrible.  It was definitely very strong stuff and had some good flavor notes, but it was totally ruined by an over-powering yeast flavor.  (Perhaps it needed a fining agent?)

Thankfully, the brown ale turned out very well, even 2 weeks before it was supposed to be ready to drink.  It tastes like a brown ale (slightly malty, not too bitter) and was perfectly carbonated.  Light and refreshing.  Ahhh.   

Once this freak heatwave in WA is over, I'm going to brew an amber ale and try to figure out how to make drinkable cider.

41

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 27, 2009, 04:34:33 pm »

Very strong and clear cider is common in England, I read.  It's like their equivalent of malt liquor, in terms of cost and alcohol content.  Sounds a lot better though, doesn't it?

I'd drink stouts more often, but they often have milk by-products in them.  (I'm a fairly strict vegan.)  Technically, that would be cream stouts I can't drink.  I've had others that were alright.

The #1 beer for me has to be the Maibock though.  Nothing beats a proper Maibock.  When I was in my last year of college, I has joined the school's Kendo club (Japanese sword-fighting).  For a college club, it was amazingly well-supplied and visited by some of the best teachers in the country (and world, if you don't count Asia).  After each Wednesday practice, a group of us started to stay behind and practice some Iaido as well (sword-drawing techniques).  One of the teachers stayed with us for that, then we all went to a local brew-pub.  The beer and food was really really good there.  We'd talk about kendo, academics, life, and anything else for hours and hours.  The beer was so good, we'd drink too much and then have to wait for an hour or two outside in the spring nights, sobering up, talking even more.  I learned more those evenings than I did in school.  (My grades increased around 50% that year too!)  The brew-pub only served a Maibock for a few weeks that year, right at the end of April (not quite May, but who's complaining?   ).  So many good times...

42

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 25, 2009, 08:13:52 am »

Anything over 6% is a bit strong for cider and most beers in my opinion.  (Strong Scotch Ale at 7% ABV is nice.  Tasty and packs a punch!)  The best cider I've ever had was labeled as 6% ABV, but I'm sure it was really less than that, probably closer to 3-4%.

When you make bread, you can smell the bread-maker's yeast up until it's baked and cooled down.  As I understand it, the yeast should settle to the bottom of the bottle after fermentation is 100% complete.  When you open the bottle of homebrew, you're supposed to pour it into a glass and leave the last 1/4-inch where the yeast is.  When you drink a bottled heffeweisen, its really noticeable. 

Hmm... it will be legal to share homebrew outside of my own home in WA State in about 22 hours.   

43

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 25, 2009, 02:19:26 am »

Dang... I just took the "final gravity" reading for my cider.  It puts the alcohol-by-volume at over 8%.  I tasted some of it.  It is extremely dry and a little yeasty.

44

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 16, 2009, 07:07:24 pm »

Hmmm, transferred my brown ale to the secondary fermenter today.  I swear it looks and smells just like Newcastle Brown Ale.  Mmmm.    Not sure on the taste yet.

Lesson learned:  plastic fermenting buckets are cheap and great for racking/bottling, but as a fermenter, the plastic lids are the weak spot.  I'd say the buckets are good for a one-time use as a fermenter at most.  Best to stick with glass or plastic carboys instead.

Update:  It looks like my state's governor actually did something good for a change... she just signed the bill to change the law on homebrewing in WA.  As of July 26, I'll be able to transport my homebrew outside of the home, limited to 20 gallons.      

45

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 13, 2009, 08:34:41 pm »

Where did you get your homebrew kit from Gilg?

There is a shop nearby my place. Here is their webpage:  http://mountainhomebrew.com/.  A shop like that sells everything you need to make beer, except for water.  You can buy online from a variety of stores, but when buying the basic brewing supplies, you should probably stop by a brick-and-mortar shop.  I've also been using this book as a reference as I learn:  http://www.amazon.com/Brewmasters-Bible-Gold-Standard-Brewers/dp/0060952164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247517102&sr=8-1

Also, I got my cider from here:  http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/farm_profile.asp?farmID=232  If any of you are in the Puget Sound region, you should try the Minea's fresh unpasteurized cider (pronounced like "mini", as in miniature).  It's really good.  You can buy it frozen as well, if its a long drive home. 

46

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 13, 2009, 02:54:41 pm »

*waits for samples*

Gilgamoth would gladly supply, but WA state forbids the transportation of homebrew beyond the home except when in small quantity (1 pint???) and when being transported to a expedition, and only when a judge is the only one drinking said homebrew.  A bill to change that particular state law passed the state house and senate.  My governor hasn't signed it yet, AFAIK.  (She made a better Attorney General, grumble grumble...)

47

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 13, 2009, 01:42:06 am »

Okay... now I'm brewing a brown ale alongside my cider.  Outside of it boiling over once and leaving a foaming sticky syrup residue ALLLLLL over my kitchen, everything is A-okay.   

What I really want to do is make a maibock lager, but I think that will have to wait until the winter, as I don't have room for a 2nd refrigerator, just for lagering.   

48

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 06, 2009, 04:04:22 pm »

Okay, I'm brewing now... won't be racking/bottling for 3 weeks.  Maximum potential alcohol is approx 8.3% based on a hydrometer reading of 1.063 @ ~ 84 degrees F.  Brew temperature will be approx 71, which is a bit high, but is around the mid-range for the yeast I used (Lalvin 71B-1122).  I've read that cider likes temperatures of around 60 degrees.  The wine yeast would barely even be active at that point.  Maybe that's the point?  

Update:  There is an odor of fruit and yeast in my apartment now, almost as if I was baking some sort of desert 24/7.  Its kind of nice...

49

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: July 01, 2009, 10:06:11 pm »

Well, I've got the brewing supplies now.  I still need to sanitize the gear, buy local cider, and proof the yeast.  I'll see if I can post a pic of the setup once its in action.

50

Flotsam and Jetsam / Re: Homebrew - Any tips?

« on: June 30, 2009, 04:51:09 am »

Well, my current plan is just for making cider, not beer.  (I'm assuming that the 1+ month brewing/aging cycle (35+ days) for the cider in my current plan will make me impatient and then try some faster small batches of beer though.)  I'm currently looking at doing a 5-gallon batch, made from local unpasteurized cider with the natural yeast killed by campden tablets, sweetened and using a proofed yeast starter, fermented for about 3 weeks, syphoned into a 2nd bucket with extra sugar for another week, bottled, then aged for at least 1 week.  From what I've read so far, that should give me a relatively dry sparkling cider at around 5-6%abv.  If this works well, I'm going to do several concurrent batches and let them age for as long as I can stand.  Cider doesn't last very long in my general vicinity...   

Redmond City water = blech.  If I was going to make beer, I would steal tap water from my parent's house.  20 minutes away from me, but the water is really really good over there.  Its from an unpolluted aquafir. 

I tend to obsess over details, initially gorging my mind on information, create a plan, then execute said plan.  I'm in the create plan phase now.  I'll probably buy most of the supplies tomorrow.  I can't "relax, don't worry, have a homebrew" until long after I've started!   

Thanks for the extra sanitizing tips.