Thursday, March 26, 2009
It's still fermenting...
My beer is still fermenting in the primary fermenter. It is going to be a strong beer if it's taking this long. It is slowing down, though, so I should be able to transfer it to a second fermenter in a few days. My husband is thinking about just putting it in the keg, instead of bottling it. That would make it easier to serve at my daughter's birthday party.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Brew Day
Today, I decided to brew a batch of a Sierra Nevada Celebration Clone. I’ve made this before and got rave reviews on it, so I decided to make it again. I like to let it age awhile before I serve it to people, so I figure making it now will allow it to be ready on my daughter’s first birthday, to serve to the grownups, obviously.
The first step in brewing a batch of beer is to clean and sanitize everything. And I do mean everything. So, I started my day off cleaning the brew pot, the fermentation bucket, the paddle we use to stir the brew, and the airlock. Then everything has to be sanitized in a solution of water and bleach. Then I let everything dry.
Then, using our high BTU propane burner, I brought 3 gallons of water to a boil. Then, to make the wort (unfermented beer), I added 6 pounds of light malt extract. This is a thick syrupy liquid that has various grains and barleys already mashed and then condensed. Many commercial breweries use malt extract, but just as many also use what’s called all-grain, where they start with grains and Steep them in water to release the sugars from the grains. Malt extract is the result of the boiling of the grains and then reducing the excess fluid to produce syrup. I also added 1 lb of crushed 60L Caramel Malt and 2 ounces of Perle Hops. I let this boil for about an hour and 45 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and added 2 ounces of Cascade hops. I let this stew in the pot for about 20 minutes. I let the wort cool for a bit then strain into the fermentation bucket. This removes the parts of the malt that doesn’t have sugar in it and helps make the beer clear. After transferring the wort to the bucket, I added 2 more gallons of water, to bring it up to 5 gallons. I use cool water to bring the wort up to 5 gallons to cool it down enough to pitch the yeast without killing it.
After fermentation starts, when the wort starts to foam, I’ll add another 2 ounces of Centennial hops to the wort, a process called dry-hopping. Dry hopping simply means adding hops that aren’t boiled. This is done for flavoring.
I prefer to use liquid yeast in my beers, simply because it starts fermentation quicker than dried yeast, which has to reconstitute before it can start fermentation. My preference is White Labs. For this beer I like to use White Labs California Ale Yeast. This is a similar yeast to what Sierra Nevada actually uses. Sierra Nevada uses a different brand, but the two yeast strains are very close. Now I just have to wait for it to ferment. It will take a while for it to ferment completely. It will take at least a week, but previously it has taken about 2 weeks to complete fermentation. After it’s done I will bottle it. To get it to carbonate, I boil some corn sugar in about a cup of water and add it to the beer. This will give the yeast more food. Then I put it in the bottles and cap it. As the yeast eats the newly added sugar, it will produce carbonation. I like to let it age a while, so I probably won’t serve it until my daughter’s first birthday.
The first step in brewing a batch of beer is to clean and sanitize everything. And I do mean everything. So, I started my day off cleaning the brew pot, the fermentation bucket, the paddle we use to stir the brew, and the airlock. Then everything has to be sanitized in a solution of water and bleach. Then I let everything dry.
Then, using our high BTU propane burner, I brought 3 gallons of water to a boil. Then, to make the wort (unfermented beer), I added 6 pounds of light malt extract. This is a thick syrupy liquid that has various grains and barleys already mashed and then condensed. Many commercial breweries use malt extract, but just as many also use what’s called all-grain, where they start with grains and Steep them in water to release the sugars from the grains. Malt extract is the result of the boiling of the grains and then reducing the excess fluid to produce syrup. I also added 1 lb of crushed 60L Caramel Malt and 2 ounces of Perle Hops. I let this boil for about an hour and 45 minutes. Then I turned off the heat and added 2 ounces of Cascade hops. I let this stew in the pot for about 20 minutes. I let the wort cool for a bit then strain into the fermentation bucket. This removes the parts of the malt that doesn’t have sugar in it and helps make the beer clear. After transferring the wort to the bucket, I added 2 more gallons of water, to bring it up to 5 gallons. I use cool water to bring the wort up to 5 gallons to cool it down enough to pitch the yeast without killing it.
After fermentation starts, when the wort starts to foam, I’ll add another 2 ounces of Centennial hops to the wort, a process called dry-hopping. Dry hopping simply means adding hops that aren’t boiled. This is done for flavoring.
I prefer to use liquid yeast in my beers, simply because it starts fermentation quicker than dried yeast, which has to reconstitute before it can start fermentation. My preference is White Labs. For this beer I like to use White Labs California Ale Yeast. This is a similar yeast to what Sierra Nevada actually uses. Sierra Nevada uses a different brand, but the two yeast strains are very close. Now I just have to wait for it to ferment. It will take a while for it to ferment completely. It will take at least a week, but previously it has taken about 2 weeks to complete fermentation. After it’s done I will bottle it. To get it to carbonate, I boil some corn sugar in about a cup of water and add it to the beer. This will give the yeast more food. Then I put it in the bottles and cap it. As the yeast eats the newly added sugar, it will produce carbonation. I like to let it age a while, so I probably won’t serve it until my daughter’s first birthday.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
VSOP
I’ve just been informed by my husband that VSOP stands for Very Special Old Pale when referring to Brandy and Very Superior Old Pale when referring to Cognac. Cognac is the name for brandy that is made in a specific area of France.
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