Dec 18 2007
Home Brew Chronicles
I got into making home brew for a while, but I eventually gave it up because, as much as like the beer, I’m just not much of a drinker these days. I still have 50 pint bottles from the last batch I made in March, which will probably last me at least until next summer. I won’t bother making another batch until this current batch is close to gone.
I recorded my adventures in home brewing over at my Mud Songs blog. I’m transferring all the content from that blog to Steel White Table because I’m tired of blogging on two blogs. These are all the home brew posts from Mud Songs (this’ll be a big one).
RED ALE - 1st Batch:
I suspect most of my home brews will come from Brew House kits. They’re more expensive than the regular kits, but they’re much easier to make and they produce a higher quality beer. Regular kits are big cans full of gooey malt to which boiling water is added. They cost anywhere from $15 to $20. The Brew House kits, which contain 15 litres of a non-concentrated liquid, range in price from $25 to $30, and they’re worth it. All I do is add 8 litres of room-temperature water to the mixture. The final product is better than any domestic beer I’ve ever had.
June 20/06
● Bottled 43 pints of Red Ale.
● Began brew around beginning of month (can’t remember exact date).
● Drank beer after ageing in cold basement for about 10 days.
● Tastes OK, but really hit its peak around August.
● keeps getting better with age.
● Had no problems with sanitizing.
● Didn’t notice mould in secondary fermenter (the carboy).
Drank all the Red Ale by September (except for 2 bottles which I’m saving for Xmas).
November 16/06
I was sampling some other Brew House beer some friends of mine made, the Honey Blond, the Winterfest and some more Red Ale along with some of my Pilsner and Octoberfest. The Red Ale was by far the best of them all. My Pilsner is apparently a good pilsner, but I find it too hoppy and bitter for my tastes. So I’m definitely not a pilsner drinker. I like dark beers and ales, but none of the darker beers compare to the Red Ale. I’m going to simplify things by making only Red Ale for now on.
February 14/07
The 2 bottles I saved for Xmas were alright, but as strange as it sounds, I think the Red Ale tasted better when it was younger; it was more refreshing. I also drank my first batch of Red Ale in the summer, so my perception may be biased.
HONEY BLONDE - 1st Batch:
June 21/06
● Mixed brew in primary fermenter (bucket).
June 28/06
● Transfer mix to carboy.
July 11/06
● Had to dump beer because of suspected mould growing in brew.
● 45 pints down the drain!
● I hate sanitizing.
November 15/06
● I realize now I could have bottled this stuff and it probably would have been alright. Shit.
PILSNER - 1st Batch:
August 12/06 (Day 17) — Bottling 41 Pints
● Bottled beer that was brewed on July 26th (17 days ago).
● Transferred to carboy after 10 days.
● Was supposed to wait another 10 days before bottling, but white globs began to appear on surface of the brew and on the sides of the carboy (some of it looking kind of green like mold).
● Decided to bottle early before mould got worse (had to dump last batch from carboy because of mould — will never do that again).
● 41 pints.
● Could be a strong beer because dextrose was added to only 20.5 litres of brew.
● Sanitizing is a bitch.
● Ageing for 7 days at room temperature.
● Drink date: August 29/06.
August 19/06 (Day 24) — Room Temperature Ageing Finished
● Moved the bottled beer to cold basement (one week after bottling).
● Noticed sediment (maybe mould?) sticking to sides of bottles (little grains of sediment).
● Might try drinking it in a week on August 26/06.
August 28/06 (Day 32) — First Taste
● Sampled the Pilsner.
● It hasn’t gone bad, but seems like an unremarkable beer.
● Probably not a bad pilsner, but maybe just not our kind of beer.
● Clear golden colour.
● We’ll have to let it age.
September 07/06
● Dramatic improvement after aging.
● Strongly suspect the Red Ale will be our favourite.
● Still better than most domestic beers.
September 14/06
● This beer might have had some mould growing in the carboy, so I bottled it early.
● Subsequently, there seems to be more sediment in the bottles (the Red Ale had almost no sediment).
● The sediment is also easily stirred up.
● Requires more care in pouring.
● Drank a bottle that was cloudy; still tasted okay, though a bit bitter.
● A nice alternative to lager.
September 24/06
● This isn’t a bad beer, though I’m not going through it too fast (the Red Ale lasted just a little over a month once we started drinking it).
● I don’t like how easily the sediment stirs up (looks kind of gross), but it still tastes alright.
● We’d probably drink more of it if it was summer, but as it’s going now, it looks like it’s going to last us well into December. [Feb. 14/07 note: I still have at least a dozen Pilser and Octoberfest in the basement. I've been trying to give them away because I want the bottles.]
November 15/06
● I’m not a Pilsner drinker.
● I don’t like the strong hoppy bitterness, though apparently this batch (sampled by a friend of mine who likes Pilsners) is very good and refreshing.
● I’m ready to give it all away and start a new batch of Red Ale as soon as possible.
September 4/07
● I still have a few bottles of this stuff in the basement. I usually give it to guests. Once in a while I try a bottle myself, and I’m always surprised. The Pilsner definitely gets better with age. (For me, better means smoother, less bitterness.)
Alcohol Content
All the Brew House kits supposedly make 23 litres of beer (or 46 pints), but that will never happen unless extra water is added to the mixture. 1 litre of mixture is lost while transferring from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter (from the bucket to the carboy). At least another litre is lost while transferring from the carboy to the bucket just prior to bottling. I managed to get 43 pints from my first Red Ale brew, but a couple of those were full of sediment (I didn’t want anything to go to waste back then). When I add the dextrose (or corn sugar) to the brew just before bottling, there is usually 20 or 21 litres of beer in the bucket. If the amount of dextrose is calibrated for 23 litres, then there’s a good chance that all beer that comes from these Brew House kits will have a slightly higher alcohol content. Which seems to be the case, because I can easily get a buzz off a single pint, which is usually enough for me anyway. The extra alcohol doesn’t seem to effect the taste. I drink it for the taste, not the alcohol content.
OKTOBERFEST - 1st Batch:
August 21/06 (Day 1) — Primary Fermentation in Bucket
● Sanitized bucket with household bleach because I don’t think that pink stuff is strong enough.
● Added mixture to bucket without using spoon to avoid contamination (the force of the liquid wort stirs it up and creates plenty of oxygenation; there must be at least 5 inches of foam after pouring in wort).
● Will transfer to carboy in about 3-5 days (Brew House kits ferment quickly).
● Plan to bottle in 20 days on Sept. 10/06.
August 22/06 (Day 2)
● About 5 inches of fermentation foam; real nice; great smell; the fermentation peaks and falls is 24 hours.
August 28/06 (Day 8) — Secondary Fermentation in Carboy
● Transferred beer to carboy.
● Beer spent 8 days in primary fermenter (bucket), though it was ready to transfer after 3 days.
● Should bottle in about 12 days (Day 20 is the usual bottling time).
September 10/06 (Day 20) — Bottling 20 Litres/40 Pints
● 2:30pm — cleaning the plastic pint bottles and bucket with household bleach.
● 9:40pm — took time off, then finished bottling.
● What a royal pain in the arse it is bottling home brew.
● Everything about making home brew is a headache, from sanitizing every single piece of equipment (and then not touching any of it) to syphoning the beer into the bottles by sucking on the end of a tube, and then doing it 4 or 5 times because the beer doesn’t always stay flowing as soon as you remove your mouth from the tube.
● It better be worth it. [Feb. 14/07 note: It wasn't.]
● 40 pints.
● The brew looks very clear.
● Oktoberfest is a strong beer; I would say there’s a least 1/3 more dextrose than regular kits.
● Will move beer to cold basement after a week of ageing at room temperature (1 week of room temperature ageing, then another week of cooled ageing in the basement).
● Drink date: Sept. 24/06.
September 17/06 (Day 27) — Room Temperature Ageing Finished
● The beer has been ageing for one week at room temperature.
● It’s very clear with hardly any sediment (much like the first batch of Red Ale, but unlike the Pilsner which has more sediment that’s easy to stir up in the bottles).
● Moving down to the basement now for 7 days of cool ageing.
September 24/06 (Day 34) — First Taste
● Sampled the Oktoberfest, and it tastes good.
● It has a slight bitterness, like there’s a hint of Guinness trying to break through.
● Kind of looks like a red ale but stronger, a bit of a bite to it.
● These early taste samples usually aren’t that great, but this is a drinkable beer right now; I expect it to get much better with age. [Feb. 14/97 note: I think it actually got worse with age.]
● I won’t drink any more until some time in October.
September 29/06 (Day 39)
● Sampled it again, and it’s stronger, though I wouldn’t call it better.
● Plan to make another Red Ale around mid-October, which I suspect I’ll stick with for now on.
November 15/06
● I tried some Winterfest from a friend; it’s a less dark and less bitter version of the Oktoberfest.
● I don’t think either of them are as good as the Red Ale.
● I’m done sampling the Brew House kits; I’m making Red Ale for now on.
March 15/07 — Six Months Old
● I was thinking about dumping this beer because I could use the bottles for another batch of Red Ale I’m making soon, but today I got desperate and drank a bottle I’d forgotten about in my fridge. I’m drinking it at this moment, in fact, and it’s alright. It has a slight bitterness and it’s still a heavy beer, but it’s gotten much smoother with age.
● It’s a slow-sipping beer. I don’t think I could drink large quantities of it, but it’s not bad. At least this bottle isn’t.
● So it took about 6 months to hit it’s peak, but if you have the time, what the hell. I’ll hold on to the rest of it and see how much I like it after all the snow has melted. (We’ve been buried in snow for at least a month now.)
September 18/07 — 1 year Old
● I still have a few bottles of this stuff banging around. I only drink it by accident when I’m not ooking carefully while reaching for a Red Ale.
● I can’t see anything surpassing the Red Ale in terms of body and flavour and smoothness, but, like the Pilsner, if you give the Oktoberfest some time to age, it’s not that bad. I’m drinking a year-old bottle now. It goes good greasy food.
RED ALE - 2nd Batch:
February 05/07 (Day 1) — Primary Fermentation in Bucket
● Started up a new batch of Brew House Red Ale. I bought two kits of Red Ale a couple months ago on sale, but I’ve been too busy until now to get at it again. I also don’t look forward to bottling the beer again, or transferring it to the carboy. Sanitizing the bottles and every single piece of equipment — and keeping it clean — is a headache, one that takes all the fun out of brewing beer. The only reason I’m putting myself through it again is that I know the Red Ale is by far the best of all the Brew House kits I’ve tried. I’m glad I started with the Red Ale; had I begun with something like the Pilsner, I would have given up on brewing beer altogether. What you really need is a big basement sink and a high-pressure hose, and lots of space. Which is something I don’t have. I don’t look forward to bottling this stuff. Anyway, I’ll transfer the brew into a carboy in a few days.
● I cleaned the bucket and the lid with regular household bleach, letting it soak for about 8 hours.
● I don’t use a spoon to mix the brew, because the force of it being poured into the bucket is enough to stir it up thoroughly.
February 07/07 (Day 2)
● Today is Day 2 not Day 3, because I poured the wort just before I went to bed. One night doesn’t count as a day.
● Anyway, I noticed the fermenting doesn’t seem as active as my last batches. It’s only about 3 inches thick. I’m not entirely sure, but I think my last batch had about 5 inches of fermentation foam.
● When I pour the wort into the bucket, there’s so much oxygenation that it leaves about 5 inches of foam on top. I would normally add the yeast immediately afterwards, sprinkling it right on top of the foam. But this time I let the foam settle down a bit before I added the yeast. I wonder if it’s better to add the yeast into the regular 5 inches of foam to provide more oxygen for the yeast?
● The fermentation foam hit it’s peak (about 3 inches). It’s already settling down.
February 13/97 (Day 9, I think)
● The fermentation took less than 48 hours. I then sealed the bucket and forgot about it. The beer is still in the bucket. I have to sanitize the carboy now. I have it filled with water and bleach, letting it soak for the day (working day), about 12 hours. I’ll transfer to the carboy sometime tonight. Which reminds me, I have to sanitize the damn hose now.
February 14/07 (Day 10) — Secondary Fermentation is Carboy
● Just transferred the brew into the glass carboy.
● I filled the carboy yesterday with warm water and about half a cup, maybe a cup of bleach, which is probably more bleach than I need, but I don’t care (it’s just as good and much cheaper than that pink powder stuff).
● I poured bleach into the siphoning hose, stuck one end in the carboy full of bleach and water, then sucked on the other end to make sure it was completely filled with bleach water. (I got bleach in my mouth. That was fun.) I then shoved the hose into the carboy where it stayed overnight.
● I topped it up with water and a touch of bleach before I went to bed because some of the water evaporated.
● I also soaked the water-bubble stopper/plug — whatever it’s called — in bleach and water overnight.
● This morning I drained the carboy and rinsed it twice with water that was just a little bit hot.
● I rinsed my hands in the bleach water as I poured it out of the carboy, which I hope means my hands got sanitized too.
● I hung the siphoning hose over my shower rod in my bathroom with paper towel underneath (good luck trying not to touch anything with that hose).
● I had to remove the bottle-filling apparatus at the end of the hose; you know, that little thing that stops the flow of the beer while you’re switching to the next bottle during the bottling process? There is no easy way to remove that thing from the hose. I’ve had to cut it off with scissors every time. Anyway, so once that was gone…
● I stuck my mouth on the end of the hose and siphoned all the beer from the bucket into the carboy. There was very little brew left in the bucket.
● I then put the water-bubble stopper on top of the carboy, where the brew will stay sealed for the next 10 days or so. I bottle the beer around the 24th of February, which happens to fall on a weekend. Good.
February 20/07 (Day 16)
● The beer in the carboy looks real good, much better than either of my last two batches which by this time has gooey things floating around the top and sticking to the sides of the carboy.
● Except for the sediment on the bottom, the brew and the sides of the carboy are completely clean. Nice.
February 27/07 (Day 23) — Bottling 21 Litres/42 Pints
● I used my bucket (or primary fermenter) to soak half of my plastic pint bottles and their caps in bleach water for 24 hours (I had to throw some caps away because they were too gunky). I emptied the bottles and put the caps on them. I then repeated the process with another 20 or so bottles. I also soaked my stirring spoon and siphoning tube in the bleach water.
● Then on Day 23, I rinsed each bottled thoroughly with warm water, until I couldn’t smell any bleach residue, capping them as soon as they were rinsed.
● I siphoned the brew from the carboy into the bucket.
● I added dextrose dissolved in a cup of boiling to the brew and stirred it.
● I then siphoned the brew into the bottles and capped them.
● NOTE (or reminder): I use plastic screw-on caps with plastic pints bottles. Regular plastic pop bottles would work just as well, except they don’t look as cool as pint bottles.
● I got 42 pints (about 21 litres) of beer out of it. The kits are supposed to make 23 litres of beer, but that never happens because there is always a litre or two left behind in both the primary and secondary fermenter.
● I wonder if this red ale will taste stronger than it should; the dextrose I added is calibrated for 23 litres, not 21. We’ll see.
● The bottled beer will be in storage at room temperature for the next week (until about March 6th). Then it’s down to the cold basement. (I put my first batch of red in the basement right away, completely skipping the room temperature phase, and it turned out fine.)
March 6/07 (Day 30) — Room Temperature Ageing Finished
● I totally forgot about the brew. It’s been sitting in my closet ageing for the past 10 days. I’m going to move it down to my cold basement now where it will age for at least another week before I sample it (if I don’t forget about it again).
● I’m in no rush to start drinking it.
March 14/07 (Day 39) — Taste Test
● I opened a bottle a few days ago, somewhere around Day 35 maybe. There wasn’t much carbonation and the flavour was far from mature. I took a couple sips and dumped it. I won’t bother with it again for at least another month.
● March 28/07 (Day 53) — The bottled beer has been ageing for 33 days. It should be fine by now, but I have no plans to drink it any time soon. I’m still waiting for the weather to change. (In the meantime, I may begin another batch of Red Ale seeing how I still have one kit left in storage.)
● June 04/07 (Day 120) — It’s approximately Day 120. The beer tastes good. I’ve been drinking an average of two pints a week since the summer slowly creeped up on us. I still serve up old Pilsners and Oktoberfest beers to people who’ll drink anything, but it’s the Red Ale that everyone loves.
RED ALE - 3rd Batch:
March 30/07 (Day 1) — Primary Fermentation in Bucket
● I soaked the bucket in hot soapy water for a night, then scrubbed it and soaked it in bleach-water with household bleach for a few hours.
● I rinsed the bucket and the lid thoroughly with warm water.
● I then put some pH powder in the bucket like I always do.
● I added 8 litres of spring water.
● I dumped in the bag of Red Ale liquid wort and didn’t stir it because the force of it being poured stirred it up enough.
● I put on the lid (not sealed) while the bubbles settled down.
● I added the yeast and sealed the lid, and then broke the seal of the lid so the yeast gases could get out.
April 1/07 (Day 3)
● The fermentation is done, so I sealed the lid. I’ll keep it like that until I’m ready to transfer it to the carboy.
April 7/07 (Day 9) — Transfer to Carboy (Secondary Fermentation)
● Transferred the brew to a carboy.
● Sanitized everything with bleach water overnight.
May 1/07 (Day 35) — Bottling the Beer, 42 Pints
● I cleaned everything with household bleach and bottled the beer using plastic beer bottles as usual.
● This stuff stayed in the carboy for about three weeks.
● 42 pints.
● I’m in no hurry to taste it. I’ll let it age at room temperature for a week or so. Then I’ll store it in the basement until the end of the summer or whenever I’m finished drinking my previous catch of Red Ale, which I haven’t even started to drink yet.
● Cleaning the carboy with household bleach is the way to go. The brew sat there for three weeks and not a sign of mould anywhere.
May 21/07 (Day 55) — Cold Storage Ageing
● I forgot about the beer and didn’t put it in cold storage for about 3 weeks (this date is approximate).
● It’s in the basement now. Chances are it’ll stay there for most of the summer.
September 18/07 — Around the 6-Month Mark
● I slowly began drinking this batch of Red Ale over summer, and it’s excellent. What else can I say about the Red Ale? It’s next to impossible to ruin it. It always turns out good.
December 17/07
● I drink the red ale usually when I have company over, playing cards or games or just hanging out. It goes down well. Everybody likes it.
