Learning by drinking

I have now done four all-grain brews. So far only two of those have been bottled, the other two are sitting in carboys. With each brew session I learn a little more about the brewing process and my brewery. Of course there is also a lot to learn from tasting the results! I have added a few more clamps to make it easier to assemble and disassemble the brewery.  It looks like my next big project, maybe this winter, will be a better way to control the mash temperatutre. The way I am doing it now makes it tedious and a little difficult to maintain very tight control.  I am recirculating the mash which seems to be working out pretty good. However, I am controlling the burner manually, which is okay, but I am also igniting the burner with a lighter. I will be doing some research before making any changes but I think my next upgrade will be to add a gas valve and a pilot light. It may not lead to better beer but it should make brewing a little easier. Cheers!

 

My first all grain brew day

I brewed my first all grain beer on Sunday April 14th. The whole process, from start to finish, takes longer compared to extract brewing. There is more equipment to both set up at the start and more equipment to clean at the end. Also, the process itself takes longer because of the mash time. Even though it takes longer it seems somehow to take place at a more relaxed pace.

I have come a long way since my first brew on a borrowed turkey fryer. But, as far as I have come in terms of brewing equipment and my understanding of the process I still have a lot to learn. That, for me, is what keeps it exciting.

I converted one of my extract recipes to all grain estimating the conversion factor. Based on the amount of grain I started with and my starting gravity my brewery efficiency was low, probably in the low to mid 60% range. That is about 10% less than what I was hoping for. I think I need to mash at a slightly higher temperature and, probably more importantly, extend the mash-out time. I know I am already looking forward to my next brew session.

Brewing update

I haven't made the move to all grain brewing yet. I still need a false bottom and a sparge system for the mash tun. I have designs in mind and plan to work on them this winter.

In the mean time I have continued to brew using dried malt extract (DME). The winter ale is in the bottle and should be ready for Christmas. I have a stout in a secondary fermenter with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. I also have an IPA in primary fermentation that I will dry hop with Cascade hops.

Cheers!

Pump it up

 I wrestled with how to integrate the two March pumps into the brewery. I studied how other people had mounted their pumps. I set them in place to see how they would fit. I considered mounting them together on the bottom horizontal frame tube. To make room for all of the connections and valves I would have to rotate the pump head vertically, this would require some additional elbow fittings and would also mean some connections would be very near the floor. I looked at attaching them separately to the vertical frame tubes to get them up a little higher but didn't like how close they would be to the burners. The heat may not be a problem but I didn't think it was a good idea. Finally I decided to mount them to a stand separate from the brew sculpture. This would allow me to get them up to a comfortable working height. It would also give flexibility to use the pumps separate from the brewery. Storage space is limited so I still wanted to be able to store them when not in use as part of the brew sculpture. What I ended up with is a pair of stands that break down for storage. I spaced the legs so that they would fit loosely in the frame but not allow enough movement for them to fall through.

KC Irish Fest brewing competition

I received a letter in the mail with my 2012 KC Irish Fest brewing competition results. I did not place in the top three, which are the prize winners. My feedback was mostly positive with an overall score of 38 (out of 50). The beer was deemed very good with no major flaws but not outstanding. I toast the winners and look forward to next years competition. They vary the style category from year to year, I wonder what it will be.

Chi-Town in August



Our beer selection



The wife and I went to Chicago for a short get-away. Sometimes you just gotta get outta town. I don't think it matters where you go, just go. Except for the notorious Chicago trafiic it is a great vacation destination. We took in a couple of tourist sites including the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago Botanical Garden and Wrigley Field. We also sought out a few beers that are not available in our home town.



Jelly fish at the Shedd Aquarium



Chicago Botanical Garden



Goose Island Wrigleyville



Rain delay



Winter Ale 2012

On Sunday, August the 5th, I brewed a Winter Ale. It uses my Wee Heavy recipe as the base with mulling spices added.  I brewed it a little later than I had hoped but still a couple of months earlier than last years. It should be ready by winter and maybe even in time for Christmas. The extreme heat this summer is one of the reasons I have brewed so infrequently this year. Who wants to stand around a stove when it's 105 degrees outside? The heat also seems to have raised the water temperature coming in to the house which slowed the chilling process somewhat. I created a yeast starter for this beer. Fermentation started right away and was consistent. I will leave it in the primary for a couple of weeks then transfer it to a carboy to rest for a couple of months prior to bottling.