Making the move to All-Grain Brewing

I've made the leap to all grain brewing.  I got a 10 gallon round cooler, installed a stainless steel mesh filter (From a high pressure hose) installed a valve and decided to try my hand at batch sparging.

Last weekend I did my Pale Ale recipe that turned out so good before.  I did an all grain version on Saturday, and then on Sunday I did the same recipe with extract.  My train of thought here is since these beers are only one day apart I can taste test both bottles and see what, if any, difference there is.

Here's the recipe I used:

Fermentables:
6lbs Light DME (for extract version)
9lbs Briess 2 Row Malt (for all-grain version)

Grains:
8oz Crystal 10L
8oz Carapils

Hops:
2oz Perle (60 min)
1oz Cascade (5 min)
1oz Cascade (dry)

Yeast:
Safale S-05 US Style Dry Yeast

Adjunct:
Wirlfloc Tablet (15 min)

I mashed @ 155f for 60 min, sparged with 170f water twice and brewed.  The color of the wort looked the same both times.  The gravity readings were different.  The all grain had an OG of 1.042, and the extract had an OG of 1.048.  The previous two times I brewed this I had an OG of 1.044 and 1.042, so I am on track.

One thing that is certain, all grain is cheaper, $0.77/lb of grain versus $2.02/lb of LME.  Of course you use more grains (9lbs of grains versus 6.6 lbs of LME) but that still comes out to $6.93 versus $13.33 for the fermentables.

The all grain did add a couple hours to my brew day, but all in all I think it was worth it.  I was able to do the mashing inside while watching the Ohio State game.  It was actually a lot of fun.

These brews will be ready to drink by the end of October, so I'll be sure to update when they are ready.

Today's the big day! GO BUCKEYES!

If you are a keen observer you may have noticed I moved my 'Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter' to "ready to drink" on my current beers list in the side bar... You know what that means...

Tonight at 7:30PM the Buckeyes kick off against Marshall, and that means my 'Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter' gets it's debut at kick-off tonight!

I put a 12 pack in the fridge last night, and I can't wait to have everyone try it.

Pumpkin acquired.

It took posting on Facebook and 3 hours of driving in the pouring rain, but I finally got two cans of canned pumpkin. Special thanks to Gina and Sue for finding me 2 cans, and to Michele for trying, even tho they were expired. :)

the brewing whent well and the beer smelled great. finally have something to look forward to in October.

It takes a village to brew a beer.

My idea was simple enough; a pumpkin beer ready for the 1st of October.  What could be a better way to start October?  I need to brew today (8/21/10) in order for it to be ready in time.  What could go wrong?

Did you know there is a canned pumpkin shortage?  Well, that's what could go wrong.  Turns out due to bad weather last year you can't buy canned pumpkin in the store, and late August is too early to buy fresh pumpkin.

I checked all the stores... Then I started calling around.  So far I've found one can of fresh and one can of expired (over 2 years).  I need at least 2 cans.  If you have canned pumpkin, please e-mail me.  There's a 6 pack in it for you if you do!

Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter: Bottling day

Today I bottled the Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, it turned out to be a 3.5% abv beer with very prominent chocolate and peanut butter notes.  Very dark, and very delicious. :)  Even my wife said she thought it would be good when it was ready.  Less than two weeks till the first OSU game and I crack the first one open!

Updates on Belgian Tripel, Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter and Maple Ale

Yesterday I bottled the Belgian Tripel.  It's a slightly fruity ale with subtle banana notes, and I think it will be really good with an orange slice.  It'll be ready to try in 2-3 weeks, plus it is 8.5% ABV so I have high hopes for this brew.

I also took a hydrometer reading on the Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter, It needs to be bottled this Friday to be ready for the first OSU game.  It's coming along quite nicely.  It probably won't have a high alcohol volume, however I tasted the sample and it was delicious.  Very prominent chocolate and Peanut butter notes.  I am really looking forward to this brew.

The Maple Ale was transfered to the secondary.  The gravity is down to where it was when I bottled the previous maple batch and had a much more prominent maple flavor compared to the last batch.  I think I may need to use less hops in the recipe however, it seemed a little too bitter.  Not much though, I'll have to see how it turns out in the bottle.

More to come...

Absinthe Update 3; The Infused Bottle is Ready

Friday marked the day that my infused bottle of absinthe is ready. I sanitized the everclear bottles and put the absinthe back in.

It's a very dark green. I started by putting 3 sugar cubes in a strainer, filled the glass I got with my kit from midwestsupplies.com with ice, poured one shot in the glass, then I slowly poured cold water over the sugar to dissolve it.

The smell of the liquor in the shot glass was like rubbing alcohol and liquorish. The smell in the glass was a very smooth and pleasant smell with a slight liquorish aroma.  The color was a very nice Green.  The taste?

Bile.

I added another 6 sugar cubes, and the taste was much better (relatively). It is drinkable. The interesting thing is there is no alcohol burn.

So, how did I feel after drinking it? Now to be fair i don't drink liquor. I'm an exclusive beer drinker. I stopped drinking liquor around 5 years ago. With that being said, I have drank the glass and I wouldn't say I was drunk, but I certainly wouldn't drive.  My body feels drunk but my head feels clearer than normal at this point.

 No hallucinations. lol... Well, at least according to dragon huddled in the corner I was not hallucinating cause that's all he kept saying...

Making Absinthe Update 2

Tonight I removed the wormwood, and added the other ingredients. The recipe is in my last update.

I mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl and then put them in a grain bag.

The smell of the ingredients was kind of a combination of gum and black liquorish. 

I removed the wormwood.  The liquor is now a very dark green.   The liquor smelled like a combination of fire and death. :)

At the advice of /r/Homebrewing since I am making two bottles, I am going to try one as an infusion and the other bottle I am going to try to distill with a cheap DIY stovetop still.

I put it back in the closet in my brewery on the top shelf.  It's hard to see, but it's in there.

This coming Saturday the infusion absinthe will be ready and I plan on trying some. :)

Incidentally in this picture at the bottom you can see my plastic primary with the maple ale in it, and the glass carboy with belgian tripel in it.  Just to the right of the primary is my other glass carboy with my Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter. :)  Also there are several bottles waiting to make it to the fridge.

More updates to come...

Maple Beer Recipe change

After the great advice I got from /r/Homebrewing I decided to add the second half of the maple syrup to the last 15 minutes of the boil to avoid infections.  I was hoping to get profound maple taste, however boiling it in the last 15 minutes should give me what I want without the risk of infections.

Making Absinthe

Absinthe became "legal" in the United States a few years ago.  I put the word "legal" in quotes because the law limits the amount of thujone (the chemical from wormwood) in absinthe.  HOWEVER, wormwood is legal to buy in the US, and there is nothing stopping you from making your own absinthe.

Making spirits is significantly different than making beer, however I have found that any alcohol over 151 proof can be used to make absinthe.  Everclear seems to be best because there is no flavoring, so... I got two bottles of everclear and two ounces of wormwood. :)

I started soaking the wormwood in the everclear Wed. and the liquor has already changed from clear to dark green.  Yes, those are boobs on a plaque in the back ground.  It was a birthday gift, and it looks good in my brewery, which is somewhat of a 'man cave'.

I am going to soak the wormwood for 5 days then remove the absinthe and add:


Two tablespoon fennel seeds
Two tablespoon Dalmatian sage
Two teaspoon spearmint

One teaspoon coriander seeds

One half teaspoon caraway seeds

One Quarter Teaspoon cardomon pods

I'll soak that for 4 more days and then remove and the absinthe is ready to drink.  More updates to come...

Maple Beer (Round 2)

My absolute best beer I've made so far was my 6th brew, a maple beer.  It was so popular it went quick and I had to horde the last few bottles. (Of which I only have 3 left!)  It turned out to be a very smooth drinking amber beer with a maple after taste and very little hop notes.  After several weeks in the bottle it is as clear as a commercial beer.

This weekend I am going to brew round two of this recipe.  I am making two changes to the recipe (which I originally got from the BYO May/June issue)  I am adding more maple syrup, (25 oz instead of 17 oz) but only half of it to the boil, the other half I am going to add to the secondary to try to get a more prevalent maple taste.  Also I am adding slightly more Liquid Malt Extract for simplicity (6.6 lbs instead of 5.8 lbs).

Here is my recipe:

Malt:
6.6 Lbs Golden light LME

Grains:
1 Lb Toasted Pale Malt 2.2L 6 Row
8 oz Crystal Malt 20L

Hops:
1 oz Cluster (60 Min)
1 oz Willamette (15 min)

Yeast:
Safale US-05 American Style Dry Yeast

Adjunct:
1 Tbls Irish Moss (15 min)
12.5 oz Pure Maple Syrup (60 min)
12.5 oz Pure Maple Syrup (Secondary) (15 min)

**For priming: 1/2 Cup Priming Sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup**

EDIT:  I decided to put the second half of the maple in the wort in the last 15 minutes at the advice of reddit.com/r/homebrewing

Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter Update 1

I transfered to the secondary last night.  I was a little nervous because the air lock wasn't bubbling like normal, however the gravity had dropped from 1.044 to 1.020 so it is fermenting.

An initial taste test revealed a great chocolate taste, but not enough peanut butter.  I wanted to add 4 oz of powdered peanut butter, but I only had 1.9 oz, so I added that and it tasted great. :)  Can't wait for September 2nd!

Ohio State Buckeyes, Home Brewing and Peanut Butter. Oh My!

I started home brewing beer in March of 2010.  Like most people I started with kits, but I quickly moved on to buying my own ingredients.  Around June of 2010 I decided I wanted to take a shot at my own recipe for the 2010 Ohio State football season (of which I am a big fan).  I have experience with Columbus hops and I figured since OSU is in Columbus, OH a "Buckeye Pale Ale" using Columbus Hops would be a good start.

I used the grain bill of a previously successful maple beer and used 3 oz. of Columbus hops. 3 oz. for 60 min., 1/2 oz. for 15 min. and 1/2 oz. dry hopped.  The recipe was as follows:

Grains:
1 lb Toasted Pale Malt 2.2L 6 Row
1/2 lb Crystal Malt 20L

Extract:
9.9 lbs Golden Light LME

Hops:
2 oz. Columbus Hops (14.2% AA)- 60 Min
.5 oz. Columbus Hops (14.2% AA)- 15 Min
.5 oz. Columbus Hops (14.2% AA)- Dry Hop

Yeast:
Safale US-05 American Style Dry Yeast

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.010
ABV: 7.1%

The beer is currently conditioning.  I get an early preview this weekend.  During Bottling it tasted good, but it is more of an imperial pale ale and I not everyone likes those...

I brewed this and was telling my friends about it when one of them made a joke that it "would be a chocolate peanut butter beer".  Anyone familiar with OSU knows that the mascot is a buckeye, (which is a type of nut) and that a candy version of the buckeye is made with a peanut butter ball covered in chocolate resembling a buckeye nut.

That got me thinking... Chocolate stouts are great, so why wouldn't a chocolate peanut butter beer work?  I began doing research on the subject and found a few attempts but no real good recipes.  I did find out that the oil in peanut butter will kill head retention and can actually cause yeast to break down on a cellular level.  One option was to de-oil the peanut butter, but that would take 6 weeks and I would need to brew right away.  Another option was something called "powdered peanut butter", which is basically natural peanut butter that has already been de-oiled.

I got online and found a product called "PB2" from Bell Plantation.  Using the store locator link on their website I was directed to a local tanning salon.  Yes, a tanning salon.  I figured it was wrong, but I gave it a shot and called them.

Me: "I have what might be a really stupid question..."
Lady on phone: "OK..."
Me: "Do you have powdered peanut butter?"
Lady on phone: "Yes, it's $5 per bottle."
Me: "OK, I'll be over shortly."


I had to ask why they had it.  The lady who I talked to was the owner, and she was on a diet, loved the stuff and started carrying it to get it cheap.  It was the only food product she carried.

I decided to make a porter, because most of my friends aren't big stout fans, and I wanted something sweeter than stout.  So, with powdered peanut butter in hand I made the following recipe and I am brewing it this evening.  More posts will surely follow, but until then, here is my recipe:

Buckeye Chocolate Peanut Butter Porter


Grains:
12oz Chocolate Malt
8oz Black Patent Malt
8oz Flaked Barley
16oz Crystal, 60L

Extract:
6.6Lbs Classic Dark LME

Hops:
1oz Perle (7.7%) Full 60
.5oz Fuggle(4.5%) (15 min)
*(Keep .5oz for dry if needed)

Adjuncts:
8oz Powdered Peanut Butter (2oz @ 5 min, 25 min, 40 min, 55 min)
Irish Moss
*Can add Hersheys Dark or milk Chocolate Powder to secondary if needed

Yeast:
Safbrew S-33 Dry Brewing Yeast

*These ingredients are optional and may or may not be used depending on taste tests at transfer to secondary.

1. Steep all the grains at 152-165 for 30 min
2. Bring to boil, add all LME
3. Bring back to boil add hops and peanut butter as indicated
     (NOTE: because of the amount of stirring this recipe will require, all hops will be added directly to
                    wort)
4. Chill to 80 degrees, move to primary
5. Aerate Wort 30 min.
6. Hydrate Yeast for 10 min.
7. Add yeast
8. Ferment 5 days move to secondary
9. Check taste add additional ingredients if necessary.
10. Ferment in secondary for 16 days.
11. Bottle, cross fingers and drink at kick off on September 2nd!