NW Brewing: Archives for July 2005

NW Brewing

A Beaverton homebrewer shares his views and experiences on NW brew culture.

07/27/2005

What to do with your aluminum empties

Just read this and wonder:

Beer Can Regatta floats into 31st year

So people make boats with their old cans, eh? Interesting concept. What really seemed odd, though, was the final sentence:

"...An extended Mindil Beach Market will be running in conjunction with the regatta, which will also include a Mad Hatter's competition, a sand-castle competition and thong-throwing."

Thong-throwing? Are they referring to flip-flops or undies? With beer-can boats racing past the scene, I suppose anything is possible.

David

Posted by Dave at 07/27/2005 9:04:11am
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07/21/2005

Scotch Wee Heavy Ale Bottled!

At last, the process was completed this evening. Tonight, I bottled some 5 gallons of Scotch ale. Final readings are Specific Gravity (SG) of 1.017 (adjusted for 1.015 @ 78F), with a resulting alcohol content of 7.75%! How's that for a kilt-lifter effect?

This is not an ale for the weak. It is incredibly rich in roasted malty aromas and flavors. That said, I had a solid pint left over from the bottling -- not enough to fill one of the remaining 22-ounce bottles -- and so I poured my first pint of the ale. I found it amazingly full-bodied.. in fact.. it reminds me quite a lot of one of the first strong ales I ever tried.. Tannenbomb by Golden Valley Brewery in McMinnville, Oregon.

The process for bottling went as follows:

Get out a combination of 12- and 22-ounce clean beer bottles, enough for 5 gallons of beer (or just 54 12-ounce bottles), load them into your dishwasher, and run a rinse cycle with heated dry to sanitize them.
You will also need enough bottle caps (plus about a dozen extra in case you drop some, bend some, or lose some in the process of doing the bottling). Place them in a covered saucepan with enough water so all the caps are slighly submerged. Set aside.
Get out all your bottling equipment and sanitize it in a solution of iodophor for 2 minutes. This should include:
- Additional 5-gallon carboy
- Vacu-Flo or other hand-operated pump with tubing
- Bottle filler/stopper attachment for the tubing
- Hydrometer with measuring vessel (to float the hydrometer in)
- Bottle capper
- Corn tongs (to lift bottle caps out of the boiling water)
- Long-handled stirring spoon

You will also need 3/4 cup corn (priming) sugar and 1 cup water in a covered saucepan (no need to sanitize any of this!)
After sanitizing, you can either leave much of the equipment in the sanitizing water, or you can spread out a few sheets of saran wrap on a clean counter top and place the equipment on that. You can then cover the equipment with the saran wrap (just to keep hair, dust, mold, etc from floating onto the equipment) while keeping it handy in case you need it. The key here is to just figure out what works best for you to keep your equipment clean but also accessible.
Once the dishwasher cycle has finished and cooled off a bit, it's time to get started. Heat the saucepan of sugar and water until a gentle boil, stirring the mixture to make sure all sugar is thoroughly dissolved into solution. Turn off the heat and let cool for a little bit, still covered. When added to the beer, after bottling, this priming sugar will help the remainig yeast carbonate the beer right in the bottle!
Also, you should start heating the bottle caps to boiling (listen for when all the caps start jingling around in the water). Boil for one minute, then shut off the heat, leaving the caps in the water to remain sterile.
Next, carefully transfer the beer from its current carboy/container into the new carboy, taking note not to splash the beer against the sides of the new carboy. Why transfer it? So you can leave behind the 1/2 inch of sludgy yeast and sediment on the bottom of the container.
While transferring the beer, you can place some in the measuring vessel in order to measure the Specific (final) gravity of the beer. Place the hydrometer in the vessel and take a reading. On the side of the hydrometer are different ratings (equivalent alcohol). By subtracting original gravity (OG) from specific gravity (SG), you can determine how much alcohol is in the beer. Remember to adjust all your readings for temperature, as that is directly tied to the beer's relative gravity!
Once transferred, pour the sugar solution into the new carboy and thoroughly mix the beer and sugar together using the mixing spoon (or just use the spoon's handle if you can't get the spoon part past the carboy's narrow neck).
Once completed, place the carboy on the counter directly above the dishwasher, open up the dishwasher, and begin arranging bottles right on the open dishwasher door. We do this so if any beer spills while bottling, it goes into the dishwasher and down the drain. Clean and neat!
Next, connect your pump, tubing, and bottle filler together, place in the new carboy, and begin the flow of beer by pumping!As the bottle filler has a valve on the end that only opens if pressed, you should place it into an empty bottle before you start pumping. This way, the flow of beer can begin immediately and start filling your first bottle. As the flow commences, try to work out any air bubbles from the tubing by moving the tubing up and down a bit. This will help prevent oxidation in the beer from air bubbles in the tubing.
Fill the bottles all the way up to the top. As you remove the filler, you'll notice that the space left behind by it creates the perfect head space in the neck of the bottle! You should try and loosely place a cap on the bottle as soon as possible, though you don't have to seal the cap right away. Place the bottle on the counter as far away from you as possible -- you have, after all, 54 or so bottles to fill, and you don't want to run out of counter space.
You can alternate between filling 12 bottles and then capping 12, or just fill them all, place a cap on loosely, and once done, cap them all at once.
I usually wipe down the underside of the bottles with a damp sponge to remove any sticky beer left over from the bottling process.
If there's any remaining beer in the carboy that you can't pump out, go ahead, pour it into a glass and try it. It won't be carbonated, but it should give you a good idea of where the beer is at! Remember, it will get much better in the following three to four weeks of aging in the bottle. The pressure will help stabilize flavors and condition the beer.
Place all the bottles someplace close to room temperature, like your garage, and leave for about two weeks to condition. After that, you can place them anywhere (fridge, under the house, whatever) where they will need another 3 to 4 weeks to finish conditioning. After that, you're done!

Posted by Dave at 07/21/2005 12:44:44am
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07/16/2005

Scotch Wee Heavy Update

Fermentation has slowed dramatically. It had been five days since it started bubbling away, and yesterday evening it was time to transfer the ale to another vessel for it to finish out its secondary fermentation.

Thanks to the spigot at the base of the primary fermenter, it was an easy task transferring the ale to a 6-gallon glass carboy. Using a polyurethane hose, I carefully poured the ale in, making sure not to let it splash very much as it began filling up the carboy. Once transferred, I re-sanitized the plastic airlock and rubber bung I was using on the primary fermenter, and sealed the carboy.

Why do you need to transfer the ale halfway through fermentation? There are several thoughts on this.

First, some of the yeast has probably died by now, and has settled to the bottom of the primary fermenter. You don't want yeast eating dead yeast (known as 'autolyzing'). Much of the live yeast is still in suspension with the ale. By transferring the ale, and leaving behind the sludgy yeast that has settled on bottom, you're helping clear the ale of the dead yeast.

Second, there are many particulates that have settled out of the ale since fermentation commenced. This includes grist, bits of hops, tannins and enzymes from the wort that can make the beer unrefined and cloudy. By transferring the ale, and again leaving behind the final 1/2 inch of sludgy ale at the bottom of the fermenter, you are helping the ale to become clearer and purer.

That it for now... stay tuned as we are now quickly approaching "bottling day" - the final stage of the ale's production!

Posted by Dave at 07/16/2005 11:31:02am
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07/11/2005

Wee Heavy Ale Fermenting Away

Well, I'll be. The Scottish Wee Heavy is already fermenting away, and very happily so. Typical lag time for activated yeast to kick into full fermentation is about 24-36 hours, but for this batch it's barely been 12. The airlock is very furiously bubbling away, and the wort is about 78F. There is a thick layer (about 2 inches or so) of foam resulting from the fermentation.

I'll post additional brewing notes as the fermentation progresses.

Posted by Dave at 07/11/2005 11:37:36am
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07/10/2005

My Latest Brew: Scottish Wee Heavy Ale

Hi there,

This afternoon, having slaved away shampooing our carpets, I treated myself to a little enjoyment by brewing up a batch of Scottish Wee Heavy ale. It was from a partial extract recipe I looked up at the local brew supply store. Ingredients are:

12 lbs. Light liquid malt extract
1 lb. 120L Crystal Malt
1/4 lb. 350L Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb. 2-Row Pale Malted Barley
2 oz. Willamette Loose Dried Hops
Y'East Activator Scottish Ale Yeast

The recipe makes a 5-gallon batch with a resulting alcohol content of 6.7% (right in-line with a 'wee heavy' ale). As it's summertime, I thought instead to make it for 5.5 gallons, about 6.1%. A bit lighter, but still should have a satisfactory "kilt-lifter" effect.

The process for partial grain/extract recipes is as follows:

1. Remove the yeast pouch from the refrigerator and allow it to come up to room temperature (70F). If you're short on time, try soaking it in a large bowl of warm (about 80F) water. Once it's up to temp, break the inner yeast seal by locating it within the pouch and giving it a quick clap between your hands. The yeast will need about 3 hours to fully activate. You can check on the yeast's progress by watching as the pouch gradually puffs up.

2. Sanitize all your equipment. Everything. As with any brewing process, if you want to be able to keep your beer clear of contamination or infection, make sure your equipment is sanitary. Kettles, spoons, sieves, thermometers... the works.

3. Heat up your oven to 325F, and arrange the chocolate and crystal malts on one cookie sheet, and the pale malted barley on a separate sheet. Bake them, until slightly roasted, for about 15 minutes. You might hear the barley crackling open as it roasts. The kitched should be filled with the aromas of fresh-baked bread. Remove both sheets from the oven, and using a rolling pin, gently crack open the barley. Add all the grain to a nylon grain sack and set aside on a sanitary surface.

4. Fill a 4- or 5-gallon kettle with 2.5 gallons of warm/hot tap water. Some recipes suggest starting with cold water and directly adding the grains, but I usually start with the water already hot. This can save about 15 minutes off the process.

5. Once the water is around 150F, add the grain bag and let steep for 20-25 minutes at about 158F (or as close as you can get to it). Try not going over 160F, as that can release bitter tannins from the barley hulls.

6. Once the grains have fully steeped, the water (now called 'wort') should be a dark brown color with good aroma of the grains. Remove the grain bag and place it in a large sanitary strainer. With the strainer over the kettle, pour 1/2 gallon of very hot tap water slowly over the grain bag to sparge (rinse) the excess sugars and colorings from the grain.

7. Open the jar of liquid malt and add to the wort. Stir thoroughly to prevent any malt from burning on the bottom of the kettle. Once stirred, crank up the heat and bring the batch to 180F or so. You can go higher, but you might risk scalding or burning the wort.

8. Once up to 180F, add in one ounce of the loose leaf hops directly to the wort, stir in, and let stand for 30 minutes. After that 30 minutes, add the remaining one ounce of hops, and let stand for an additional 15 minutes. You can vary the timing for adding hops, depending on the amount of hop flavor and brightness you want to add to the hops.

9. Next, it's time to shut off the heat and remove the hops. The hops tend to float on the surface, so I use a hand-held scoop strainer, and just remove as much as I can from the top of the kettle.

10. Once that's done, it's time to begin the cool-down process. If you have a counterflow wort chiller, good for you. If you don't, like many homebrewers, A simple way is to place the kettle in your sink, fill the sink 1/3 full with cold tap water, and then pile in as many free ice cubes as you can get your hands on. We happened to have most of a bag from our July 4th BBQ, so that helped. To chill the wort may take anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the temperature you cooked it at. You want to reduce the temperature to 70-80F before pitching the yeast. During this time, when the wort is chilling, it is vital that you not stir or aerate the wort, as that can cause excessive oxidation.

11. Once the wort is cooled down, it's time to transfer to your sanitized primary fermenter. You should pre-fill the fermenter with a gallon or so of cold-to-tepid tap water (depending on how warm your wort still is). Using a strainer with a fine mesh screen to filter out any remaining hops or mash, pour or transfer the wort from your kettle into the fermenter. Top off the fermenter to the 5-gallon (or 5.5 gallon if you prefer) level with tap water.

12. Check the temperature of the wort, and make sure it's 80F or less. It's now time to aerate. This helps inject the wort with adequate oxygen to kick off a healthy fermentation, and can be accomplished either by whisking the wort with your stirring spoon, or by using a hand-held metal or plastic whisk. Do this for about two minutes, and stir the wort evenly, top to bottom, to make sure the oxygenated wort is well distributed throughout the fermenter.

13. Finally, it's time to sanitize the outside of the yeast pouch, cut it open, and pitch the yeast into the wort. Stir evenly.

14. Finally, take a reading of the wort's original gravity. This recipe came to 1.074 (1.07 at 84F = 1.074). Make a note of the date and time (10pm, July 10, 2005) on a notepad or brewing notebook. Just make sure you can find it later on.

15. Finally, seal the fermenter's lid, firmly setting the airlock in place, and covering the fermenter with a towel to keep out light (which can interfere with the quality of the fermentation). Place the fermenter in a clean, dry place where it won't be disturbed too much.

That's about it. The beer will be ready for bottling in about 10 days, and ready for optimal drinking enjoyment another 3 to 4 weeks after that.

This entry included many extraneous notes about the brewing process itself. Consider this a primer to reference, as future recipes won't go into as much detail. I welcome your comments!

Cheers,
David

Posted by Dave at 07/10/2005 11:53:53pm
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