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4th Essential Step In All-Grain – All-Grain Brewing Series

The biggest thing that separates extract with specialty grain brewers to all-grain brewers is that with all-grain brewers you need a vessel called a, “Mash-Tun”.  You can buy these online but honestly I don’t see the point.  You can make them for a fraction of the cost and you don’t need any special tools.

But before I dive into how to build, I need to point out a few key points. When you are buying a cooler, I would get 2 of them.  One is going to turn into your mash tun and the other is going to be where you hold hot water.  So if you are going to go cheap, don’t go cheap on the mash tun but the one to hold the hot water.  You want something that also can hold about 10 gallons of water.

When you build your own mash tun there are two different approaches that are pretty popular.  One you put a stainless tube in a cooler and that is the easiest way.  I really don’t prefer this one based off my own experience.  What would happen  is that the tube would collapse on itself and end up making a stuck sparge.  So even though it was easy to put together, it turned into a big pain every time.

The other way to do it is a bit more time consuming but well worth it.  By the way I’ll put up pictures of one I just built with a friend of mine, but it took us 30 minutes.  The other way is that you make a manifold with CPVC piping on the bottom of the cooler.  So below are the directions on how to do the different steps.

I could not do a better job then some other blogs out on the internet so I copied what they had and the link is found by them as well.

How to make a Coffin Mash Tun

A local homebrewer has long had a large cooler he mashes in that has been dubbed the coffin. For NHD 2006 we decided to make a coffin for club use (CARBOY) and to do a 20+ gallon batch of 1.090 beer. The large cooler was a donation to the club by a member so all that was needed was the parts to assemble the system and the time to drill the tubing. The cooler that was donated was about 140 qt. Having made a 100qt cooler conversion for another brewer out of CPVC, I knew that it could easily be accomplished out of a few parts from the local home improvement store and local homebrewing shop. It uses a bottling spigot much like my other two rectangular mash tuns but then instead of a coil and copper, it is laterals of CPVC. If we were batch sparging we could have used a single outlet point and a braid or a SS scrubbie on the back of the bottling spigot, but due to the need to maximize grain in the batch, not enough room remained for the sparge water additions, so we elected to make a fly sparge system. The key is to keep the laterals off the walls to avoid channeling through the grain. Here is the parts list and the prices paid (including tax):

Quantity
 Description
Price each
Total
1
 Bottling Spigot
$3.32
$3.32
2
 Extra Gaskets for Spigot
$0.37
$0.74
4
 90º Elbows – 1/2″ CPVC
$0.19
$0.76
2
 45º Elbows – 1/2″ CPVC
$0.19
$0.38
5
 Tees – 1/2″ CPVC
$0.30
$1.50
1
 3/4″ x 1/2″ Reducer Busing CPVC
$0.46
$0.46
1
 3/4″ Threaded Female to Glue Female CPVC
$1.36
$1.36
10′
 CPVC Pipe
$3.17
$3.17
Grand Total
$11.69

Parts for the manifold (note that three Tees are not pictured)

The layout is pretty simple. The bottling spigot will be put into the cooler through an enlarged drain hole after the old drain is removed. The 3/4″ Threaded Female connector will then be used on the backside of the bottling spigot and additional gaskets as needed. The bushing will reduce the size from 3/4″ to the 1/2″ CPVC.

From there the 45º Elbows can be used to get the pipe system to lay flat on the bottom of the cooler. The 90º Elbows are for the corners and the Tees are for the middle laterals and connecting to the 45º Elbow section. Of course your cooler configuration may differ, some coolers have the drain lower and some higher, your parts list would need to be adjusted for your configuration and cooler. In looking at the bottom inside of the tun (be sure to measure the bottom, not the top, most coolers taper), it became apparent that there was only enough room for 3 laterals if space was to be left at the sides to avoid channeling. I like to drill everything in the field, lats and connecting pieces, but I don’t drill any fittings. Let’s run through the tun fabrication from start to finish. First up, remove the existing cooler drain.

The cooler drain is generally threaded with a coupler tightened on the inside and a few gaskets. Once this is removed the hole may need to be enlarged. If so mark the cooler using a gasket from the bottling spigot as the guide and then remove the marked area.

For enlarging the drain hole I use a spiral saw, and mine just happens to be coordless. I have used other methods in the past from utility knives to saws and most are too violent for the operation and can end up damaging the cooler.

Once the hole is enlarged, insert the Bottling spigot with a gasket on the outside and at least one on the inside. Then tighten down the 3/4″ Threaded female. On this cooler it took two inside gaskets to make that connection.

After the spigot is installed the next piece is the bushing and then later you must figure a method to either move upward to the manifold or downward. If upward you may be able to use a single 45º Elbow, on ours to move downward it took two 45º Elbows and some transition pipe. This is probably the most difficult part to create so save it for last. Move on to the manifold. Try to stay 2″ off the walls at all times. That should allow you to cut the laterals, three in this cooler. Measure the inside length and cut the lats 5-6″ shorter. 2″ for each end and ~1″ for the elbow. You can always recut them even shorter, but to add back will take a coupler. The nice thing is that the pipe is extremely inexpensive if more is required. Once those are cut, trial fit them with the elbows in the bottom to see how you did. In my case the middle lateral had to be moved down in order to accomodate the transition piece for the manifold to lay flat. If this is the same in your case, just cut a short 1-2″ piece of pipe for the bushing, put on the 45º Elbow and then take the other elbow and a short straight edge and find the point where you can get them lined up and one is on the bottom of the cooler at a 90º angle to any lateral. In this cooler it took a cross piece and a few extra Tees to make the connection work out.

Once the lats and the connection to the back of the valve is decided, drill the bottom side of every pipe piece that lays flat to the bottom and that is 2″ away from the walls with a 5/64″ bit. I used a two speed cordless drill and found that the low speed setting was best. Put the holes fairly close together, no more than 1/2″ apart.

After drilling, reinstall the mainfold and see if any joints need gluing. Most of the time, none will. In this cooler only one required glue. Use cleaner and glue designed for CPVC.

Now you’ll have a coffin mash tun all ready for those team brews!

This tun was used for our2006 NHD brew and achieved 78% efficiency on a 70 lb grist and a 23 gallon finished batch size.

NOTE: Use CPVC for the mash tun manifold, not PVC. CPVC is made for the temperature ranges of mashing, PVC is not.

http://www.ipass.net/mpdixon/Homebrew/CoffinMash.htm

The Other Method

Cheap and Easy Mash Tun Rubbermaid cooler 48 quart from Menards.  Cost was $13.99.  (now it is on sale for $10.67!)  I knew this would work because a guy named Kevin used this same one (except mine has much fancier and deluxe tropical designs…) and so did Denny.  Both of their web pages helped me get ideas.

Braided Stainless Steel toilet supply line tube (Menards):  $3.19

4 clamps at $.58 each:   $2.32

Plastic valve 3/8″:  $1.50

5 feet hi-temp 3/8″ tubing 1.60/foot: $8.00

48 quart cooler:   $13.99

Total cost =    $29.00

Considering a cooler conversion kit can cost $30 itself, this appears to be a cheap and easy way to get into all-grain brewing.  I thought I would start cheap and easy, and if I ever want to upgrade, I can.  

OK here comes my tubing sob story.  I figured I needed hi-temp tubing so I bought the 3/8″ stuff (the wider of the two  typical sizes, the other being 1/4″).  Now I know I don’t.  I could have saved a few $ and made it even cheaper if I had not bought it, but I’m sure it’ll work fine.  Where I ran into trouble was in trying to get the hi-temp tubing through the spigot.  I WAS able to get the non hi-temp 3/8″ tubing through because its walls are a little thinner.  But the walls of the hi-temp tubing make it just too big to pull through no matter how tapered I made the tubing (see above).  That is when I found out that I can get away with using the non-hi-temp (and slightly smaller) 3/8″ tubing for the inner part of the mash tun.  I did use the hi-temp stuff I bought on the other side of the valve.  Bored yet?!

This was the open end of the braided tube.  I sawed off the ends seconds with a hack saw.  Then I pulled the rubber tube out with a pliers.  I decided to fold over the end, bend it onto itself with a pliers, and tighten a clamp as far as it can go.  All I really have to do is keep grain material from getting into the end and that should work.  

Here is the braided tube before I put it over the plastic tubing.  You can see how tight the tubing is in the spigot as it is slightly collapsed where it goes through.  After it was done I filled it with some water and it did not leak.  The water ran pretty quickly out of it through the tubing too, so I think I will get a good rate of collecting wort.

At left is the non hi-temp tubing.  At right is the hi-temp.  The inner diameter is the same (3/8″) but the outer diameter varies, with the hi temp being thicker.

 

Here’s the Midway Mash Tun ready for action.  It’s no different than a lot of guys have made but I thought I’d post how I did it.

http://www.donosborn.com/homebrew/mashtun.htm

Now What?!

Now all you need is a few more things and you can start your brewing.

  1. A burner – check out amazon or you local homebrew shop.  You want a turkey burner essentially.
  2. Large pot – Get a large stainless steel pot 7.5 gallons at the minimum.  You’re going to be boiling 6.5 gallons of water so keep that in mind.
  3. A pump up song – choose a song that you will play when you are going to put in the mash.  It’s a big moment – the song will add to the drama that will unfold.

That’s it!  The next post for this series we’re making the brew so get pumped! I still remember my first all-grain batch like it was yesterday, I was blasted, “Framed” by Chris Knight.  

Do you remember your first batch of brew or all-grain batch? Leave it in the comments below if you got a story .

 

FINAL STEP CLICK HERE

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101 In Wine Making & First Recipe

Oh how I love to make wine.  I find myself making wine when I get bored making beer.  If I end up getting in a stump on what recipe I should make next, usually I’ll turn my attention to making a batch of country wine.

Making wine in general is pretty easy.  In a lot of ways I think it’s at easy or easier then making beer.  I do have to make this one note though, I make country wine.  I don’t make wine from kits generally.  I’ll either buy the ingredients from the store or pick them from my own garden, because of this the wine recipes are generally small (1 gallon – 3 gallons).  I do this for a few reasons: 1) It’s pretty old school 2) It’s what I learned from the time I was “mini home brewer Derek” 3) I feel you have a high level of control doing this versus buying a kit.

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind for making your first batch of wine.

There are a few guide lines when making wine from scratch though, as well as a few pit falls.  

  • Use the correct yeast, not beer yeast or old yeast.
  • Make sure you keep it clean and sanitary.
  • Use good fruits and vegetables – fresh matters.
  • Make sure that secondary fermentation doesn’t get oxidized.
  • Don’t let wine sit to long on excess sedimentation.
  • Know time is your friend, unless it’s vinegar just let it chill out – it will change in flavor.

A Few Pieces Of Equipment That You Will Want

  • 1 gallon glass jug
  • 1 2.5 gallon primary bucket
  • Mini siphon
  • Hose (5/16th”)
  • Air lock
  • #6 Rubber Stopper
  • Nylon Straining Bag
  • Wine Bottles (I prefer 375ml bottles)
  • Bottle Washer
  • Hydrometer
  • Thermometer
  • Scales
  • Measuring Cups And Spoons

Chemicals Which You Will Want In Your Pantry 

Acid Blend – Gives wine a bite, helps keep the colors from fading out.  It will also help preserve your wine.

Tannin – Gives dryness to the mouth-feel to wine.  It will also help clear and stabilize the wine.

Pectic Enzyme – This eats pectin up, and prevent haze.

Yeast Nutrient – Yeast food so you don’t get stressed out yeast

Stabilizer – Potassium Sorbate will prevent the yeast from growing again after you get the FG that you want

Campden Tablets – Potassium Metasulphite, you can use this as a sanitizer or also to kill the yeast.

Calcium Carbonate – This will help the wine become less acidic.

Now that we got that out the way time to get the fun part YOUR FIRST RECIPE!

Blueberry Wine

Ingredients

3.25 quarts of water

2.5 lbs sugar or 3 lbs honey

3 lbs fresh or frozen blueberries

2 tsp acid blend

1/8 tsp tannin

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 Campden Tablet

1/2 tsp pectic enzyme

1 packet Montrachet Yeast

Directions:

  1. Put water and sugar or honey in pot and bring to boil.
  2. Wash berries in cool water and drain
  3. Put berries in nylon bag and place in primary fermenter
  4. Squish berries with clean hands or potato masher
  5. Pour hot sugar water over the crushed berries
  6. Add acid, tanning and yeast nutrient
  7. (If you add campden tablet let it sit for 24 hours with top and air lock)
  8. Add pectic enzyme and yeast then add top and air lock
  9. Let ferment for 2 weeks then remove the nylon bag
  10. Rack into secondary fermentation (glass jug)
  11. Let it sit for 4 – 6 months
  12. Add campden tablet, and stabilizer (1/2 tsp per gallon) wait until air lock  has shown no more fermentation
  13. Add 6 ounces of sugar boiled in water
  14. Then bottle
  15. Keep for a year before you drink

This is one of my personal favorites.  Let me know if you guys have any killer wine recipes in the comments below!

 

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5 Brewing Personalities

We all brew beer but it’s done in different ways.   I hear a ton of different approaches.  Usually people will fall into one of the following personalities when brewing.

My Garage Is A Tool Shop Brewer

These homebrewers will make everything themselves.  Name a tool that you need, they have two of them.  Most likely these guys/gals can see a RIMS system and know how to build it.  Generally this personality will build brewing equipment because of a reason similar to one of these: 1) I can build it better 2) I can make it cheaper.

Half of the fun of brewing for this personality is making cool toys.  Maybe it doesn’t look perfect, maybe it only works 50% of the time – but it’s the ongoing project that keeps them in the hobby.  Building is the hobby, brewing is just the excuse for building random things.

Science Is My Middle Name

These homebrewers see the science that goes into the brewing process.  They will have piles of notes, measurements and records that will make your head spin.  Need to know how to have your brew turn out the same every time? Ya, these guys can guide you through that process.

Honestly, I get stumped by these brewers. They’ll ask questions such as, “What is the water moister in the GW 2-Row vs the Briess 2-row pale”.   Usually I give a blank look which means, “You’re on a different level then I sir”.  Personally, I’m pretty informed about different things in the brewing world, but this personality can really push the knowledge to the test.  What I once considered odd cocktail conversation material, is now the center of discussion.

Normally these brewers have a background in one of the hard sciences (engineering, chemistry, physics, bio, etc) and knowing the gritty details is necessary to make the perfect brew every time without fail.

They can tell you how to make the best yeast starters, strip down and rebuild your water to exactly that region which you are brewing, tell you step by step what is happening not in general terms but on the micro level. Want to taste some consistent brews, befriend one of these brewers.

Chef Brewers

One thing is on the mind when they brew, food.  Making recipes that pair with food is second nature to these guys and gals.  A common trait of these brewers is that they know what every ingredient will bring to the beer and how that will accent other ingredients.  Brewing is an art, not a science to these brewers.

Some common terms that these brewers will use are: Nutty, bready, woody, citrus.  You won’t find them talking in different terms that are not related to food you eat.  Actaldehyde is referred to as green apples flavor and things on those lines.

Chillaxing Brewers

Laid back, and don’t care about complicated or extra step brews.  You find these brewers not even taking OG’s or FG’s, they’re going to drink it anyways.  Odd rules of thumb are developed by this type of brewer: 3 beers and getting buzzed it’s 7%ish, 5 beers and you start to feel it, 4.5%ish.  They might consider every brew the best brew to date, until they brew the next one.

Brewing is an excuse to hang with friends or just to make really good beer for a decent price.  If you end up brewing with a Chillaxing brewer make sure to eat something before hand, most likely you’re going to be drinking for the whole time and it’s going to be the beer they made from the last brew session.

They cannot understand why you would want to read blogs or go on forums – less reading more brewing. Every beer that they make is described as, “Amazing” or, “Succulent”.  The idea of sending off a beer to a competition is foreign to them.  Want really good compliments on brews, these guys will build you up like crazy.

Narcissist Brewers 

Unfortunately even in the beer world you still have assholes.  Thought you could get into a hobby where people are 100% chill, wrong.  I meet them, I know.  They are a very small percentage, but still a percentage that needs to be addressed.

They lurk in the shadows of homebrew shops silently judging your combination of ingredients and laughing on the inside at your, “incompetence” compared to their knowledge.

These brewers are the know all homebrewers.  Your brew is never good enough, techniques that you try are child’s play compared to the ones they know.  If you would tell them they are acting as if they are trying to keep up with the “Jones’s”, they would reply, “I AM MR. JONES!”.

You could pour the same brew into 5 different glasses tell them to judge each glass and they will pretend that they can taste differences in each glass. They will judge each one differently giving an entirely different score (This one is a 10, this one is a 3).  Little do they know it’s the same damn beer in different glasses.

Alpha Acid?  I need it to the hundredth, not the tenth!  Substitutes? THERE ARE NONE!!!  In some regards I am envious, they have found a way to turn a hobby as cool as brewing into an inner prison of self-hatred – simply amazing and my hat goes off to you.

If you want negative feed back on your beer, probably turn to these guys not the chillax brewers. These brewers will tear your beer a new one, maybe twice, and three times on Sunday’s.  It’s not a matter if they are right or wrong, it’s what degree of awesomeness they really are that day.

*** The New Guy***

I know this is personality 6 and title says 5 but, a well deserved personality should be included and we were made aware by a comment listed below – the new guy.  As of now we’ll keep this as it’s own thing because this is what I would call a phase, one which most homebrewers go through but eventually grow out of.  After you get out of this phase, you will find yourself in one of the personalities listed above.  This phase goes as follows.

Self doubt follows you from the time you enter the homebrew shop and make your first statement, “So I’ve been doing some research and I’m pretty interested in homebrewing…”.  Hopefully the person that is helping you out fills you in and builds up your confidence levels to the point where you can believe you can do it, regardless if your confidence is up or not it soon disapears and a void is filled with self doubt.

You get home start to brew and read over the directions multiple times.  OCD qualities start to come out that you never new you had, “Is it clean enough?”, “Does this look right?”.  Even the most manly of men soon feel like a mother taking care of a new born child locking there eyes onto that airlock wandering, “Is it bubbling enough?”.

At some point in time you can’t take any more and, e-mails, phone calls start heading out to friends, family, home brew shops or complete strangers just wanting reinsurance that you are doing the right thing.

The questions and doubt don’t usually fade until you have your beer and find that you made something that at the least is drinkable.  The hobby continues and your obsession grows, then that’s when you start to develop the habits of the personalities above.

In my personal opinion, most homebrewers will enter and leave this phase pretty quickly.  Regardless, it is a phase that I would say 75%-90% of homebrewers will enter for at least 1 batch.  Even experienced homebrewers will get back into this phase once they make a switch to all-grain.  Once you get the success you’re looking for usually you can set aside the fear for some time.

And You?

Most people take bits and pieces out of the different ones above.  So which ones best describes you?

This blog was inspired by a great post from this blog.

 

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3 Levels Of Clean

There is one phrase that is commonly said in homebrewing, “99% of brewing is cleaning, 1% is following directions.”

So what is clean? Well there is really 3 levels of cleanliness in my opinion. Taking a quick look at what it takes to clean and sanitize to make sure that you beer turns out the way it’s intended to looks something like this:

1) Clean

To clean brew ware is a good place to start off.  Pretty much what is accomplished here is you are ridding the hardware of dirt or stains.  Before you can sanitize you must clean.

A good rule of thumb to go by is that your brewing equipment must be cleaned, but not all your equipment needs to be sanitized.  When you look at what needs to be cleaned versus wheat needs to be sanitized, view it in pre boil and post boil.  Anything pre boil just needs to be cleaned.  The boil is going to kill any bacteria.  Anything that is post boil must be sanitized.  

Examples Of Cleaners

Good Old Fashion Soap –  Soap will clean your equipment.  The downside is that sometimes it is scented and your beer could smell like soap.  Also, sometimes there is a white residue that is left over.  In small amounts soap is pretty good though.

Bleach – Cheap and it works.  If you end up using bleach, use about a tablespoon per gallon.  If you use plastic, bleach will most likely be absorbed and will give you off flavors.  Another downside is that I’m told that bleach can eat through stainless steel if in contact for a long enough time.  Rinse super well if you choose to use it.  I tend to stay away from bleach for the most part, but I know some homebrewers swear by it.

Oxiclean – one of my favorites.  Cheap as well as easily found. Just get the store brand if you choose this route, it’s the same thing but even cheaper.

PBW – pretty much a stronger version of Oxiclean. Use between 1 and 2 tablespoons per gallon.

Straight A, One Step and B Brite – These are all precarbonates.   Not as strong as PBW and have similar cleaning characteristics of Oxiclean.  1 tablespoon per gallon of water.

**As seen in the comments below, if you have white residue there is a solution:

 “…do an acidic rinse (white vinegar+water) prior to the the plain water rinse to get rid of this…”

Love it***

2) Sanitize

To sanitize something makes it so that you eliminate bacteria.  All equipment that touches your word post boil should be sanitized.

Examples Of Sanitizers:

Bleach – To get it to sanitize allow it to sit for 15 minutes.

Iodophor – This is used in medical and food industries to sanitize equipment.  Use  one tablespoon per 5 gallons.  Contact time needs to be 2 minutes.  This is a sanitizer that is a no rinse.  Also make sure that it doesn’t get on your cloths because it will stain it.

Star-San – One ounce per 5 gallons of water, it is a no-rinse sanitizer.  The nice thing about Star-San is that is can be reused a couple times as long as it’s pH stays where it is suppose to.

3) Sterilize

Most homebrewers don’t go through the steps to actually sterilize equipment.  To sterilize you are actually ridding all bacteria or microorganisms.   The only way which I know how to do it is heat.  We have a blog about how to do it with bottles.  Technically you can do with any glass equipment.  But if your interested, you can actually save time by sterilizing your bottles rather than sanitizing your bottles.

What I do: I normally use Oxiclean and then iodophor for brewing containers.  Anything glass I bake in the oven. It seems to work for me about every time.  Once I switched over to carboy’s and do this combination, I haven’t had any contamination problems.

 

If you have any suggestions or personal experiences leave a comment below!

 

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1 Way To Lighten Your Beer In Color

There are a few tips and tricks make you tilt your head and say, “Ah yes, time to share this one and look really smart.”  Well this is one of those.

Fairly frequently, I hear about extract brewers getting darker color beers then what was intended.  I still hold the notorious, “tang” flavor as a favorite.  I feel like an auto mechanic while people describe the issue.  Instead of making noises that describe the problem with your the car, the facial expressions are used to describe the flavor – priceless.  I digress though, Jay’s Brewing is here to help with the color issue and probably help with the dreaded, “tang”.

So the solution, very simple.  When you’re  making your beer, and are following directions when to add in malt extract into the beginning of the boil, ignore it.  You can save adding most of your extract until the last 15 minutes left in the boil.

Why Would You Hold Off With The Malt Extract?

If you end up boiling your malt extract for the whole hour boil you run the risk of caramelization of the extract which will cause a Maillard reaction.  This type of reaction will change the color profile and the flavor of your beer.

What Is A Maillard Reaction?

This reaction is a chemical reaction which occurs with amino acids and fermentable  sugars which are in the wort.  Now without the geek talk, it is a reaction that is caused when you use extract in a concentrated boil.

When using liquid extract or lots of sugars (Belgian candi sugar would be an example) you run the chance of the sugars collecting at the bottom of your pot and caramelizing.  The Maillard reaction actually accounts for most of the color darkening as well as some flavor changes.

If you’re making a porter of a stout, not really a big deal – color is not a key issure.  If you’re making a light color beer it will have an affect on the color.  It can also happen with high gravity (OG: 1.070+) beers because of the high ratio of sugar to water.

How To Solve The Problem…

I’m not suggesting don’t add malt for the 60 minute boil.  The enzymes do help increase the bitterness from the hops.  The suggestion is that you add 1/3 of the  amount of malt for the full 60 minute boil and then add the remaining for the last 15 minutes of the boil.  This also insures that the extract will be heated and any bacteria will be killed.

With a late addition to the boil, you will cause an increase in the overall bitterness of your beer.  There are formulas on how I know this, or you can take me at my word (It deals with hop utilization and gravity of beer).  A way to avoid this is reduce your bittering hop by 20%-25% for the recipe.  This potentially could screw up your old recipes that you’ve used in the past, so trial and error unfortunately is the best way around this.

Hope this helps, it should make a pretty significant difference for your spring and summer brews since they tend to be lighter in color anyways.  Good luck and BREW ON!

 

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7 Ways To Clear Your Beer

There is no reason why your beer can’t be clear when you pour it into your glass.  While clarity does not affect the taste of the beer, some homebrewers feel that appearance is half the battle.    Here are a few tricks that will help your beer clear up.

Irish Moss

This is an adjunct added at the end of the boil (last 15min).  Take a pinch of it and add.  The way that it works is, it helps coagulate proteins to the bottom.  Proteins add to the haze of a beer.   This does not change the flavor profile of the beer.

Fining Agents (Gelatin)

This is one of my favorites that I use.   You add it into the secondary fermentation and it will literally drag down tannin, proteins, yeast,  making the beer clear.  Do not add this in while the fermentation process is ongoing.  The reason is that it will attach itself to the yeast and make it fall out as well.

Chill Wort Quickly

Ice bath, immersion chiller, counter flow, there is a ton of techniques.  Which ever one you chose, if you end up cooling down your wort quickly it helps the tannin’s and the proteins to cool down quickly and essentially dropping out.  By doing this you make your beer clearer.

Lager Your Beer

Any strain of yeast can be lagered – ale yeast or lager yeast.  By letting the fermentation finish and then bringing it down in temperature, yeast as well as tannin’s will fall out of the beer making it more clear.  If you are bottling you will want to do this after the beer has been bottled if using an ale yeast.  If you don’t the  beer will not carbonate properly.

Use Grain With Less Protein

Certain grains that are used for steeping or in all-grain are going to naturally give you more haze.  Anything that says, “flaked” you can bet that you will have a cloudier beer.  Wheat malt is another one that normally will give you a cloudy beer.  At the end if you are trying to make a clear beer, I would avoid using as many high protein grains as possible.

Secondary Fermentation

We wrote a pretty good blog about them but, secondary fermentation can help as well.  I find that better bottles do a better job when it comes to help clarifying then the glass do (I’m sure there are people who would call me crazy for saying that).  More can be elaborated about them but pretty much the gist is, the yeast will hit the sides of the better bottle and with its design it helps make the beer less cloudy because yeast will fall out.

Yeast Choice

You want to look at the flocculation of the yeast strand.   Flocculation refers to the yeast characteristic of falling out once the fermentation is complete.  The higher the flocculation rate, the clearer your beer should be.  Chose a high flocculation strand of yeast if you want a clear beer.  WYEAST & White Labs both have charts about the flocculation of the yeast which they sell.

 

What I do…

I usually end up just putting my beer into secondary fermentation and adding gelatin to it.  It works every time for me, and it’s kinda cool.  You can actually see the beer start to become more clear as the days go by.  

 

If you know of any that I missed or have a technique worth sharing tell us about it!

 

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What You Really Need To Know About Barley Wine

Barley Wines are a beer that are often looked over and usually are rarely conquered by homebrewers.  It’s a shame though because they are a great style of beer and one of those that you can make for gifts or a special occasion if you know ahead of time.

So really what is a barley wine?  A barley wine (b.w)  is a style of beer that is very big.  It was originally made by the English because they needed to substitute a brew for French wine.  That’s because England was at war with France.  From there the beer kinda turned into the cognac of the beer world.

There are two types of b.w: 1) American 2) English.  The American style is more hoppy then it’s counter part.  Regardless of the style most b.w are going to be around the range of 10%-15% and 15-30 SRM.   The bitterness of these beers range usually from low 40s all the way up to 100 IBU’s.

When making these beers one thing to keep in mind is that the higher the original gravity is, the less hop utilization there is.   So when you are building these recipes, you may feel that you are using a lot of hops – over time the beer mellows out.

Now this is the part why lot’s of homebrewers pass on the whole b.w experience – the aging process.  How long do you age? We’re talking years.  Normally you will do a primary (few weeks) secondary (about 2 months) then bottle for years.  There is a lot of discussion in the homebrew world about how many years.  Ton’s of people say 6 years is the max.  I’ve heard of homebrewers  having b.w that are over 20 years old.  There was one story I read not to long ago that someone had a b.w that was 100 years old.  True or not, they are meant to age.

Regardless of the stories, you will hear of people having a barley wine that is 10, 15 even 20 years old.  Normally though I wouldn’t even think about drinking one that is less than a year if you can wait 2 that’s better.  In my opinion they get better with age and change in flavor profile.

One of the cooler stories  was I had a customer whose wife was pregnant, he was going to make a barley wine and wait to open it for his child’s 21st birthday.   Pretty awesome and something to consider.  Most people will say that it will oxidize if you age it that long, but I would beg the differ.  They do have oxygen absorbing caps these days.

Getting back to it, I wanted to share 2 different barley wine recipes; 1 English 1 American.  I can tell you that I’m planning on doing the English one because I’m always jonesing for English style hops, but I do feel inclined to share an American one.  These two recipes kinda show the extreme’s with differences between them.

English Barley Wine 

OG: 1.120

FG: 1.029

IBU: 34

SRM: 10

ABV: 11.5%

Don’t drink until 2 years.

Ingredients:

12 oz 60L

13.5 lbs light DME

2 oz Kent Goldings (60 min)

1 oz Kent Goldings (45 min)

1 oz Kent Goldings (12 min)

1 oz Kent Goldings (3 min)

WLP 004 or WLP 005

Directions:

Heat 3 gallons up to 150 and steep the grains for 30min.  Take out add the malt extract and bring to boil. At the beginning of the boil follow the hop infusion chart above.

About this recipe:

This recipe is kinda cool, it has a lower IBU then most B.W.  You can tell from the yeast as well as the choice of hops that this is clearly as English style.  The hops have that classic low alpha acid making it a nice pick of b.w for those that aren’t hop heads.  Ages out well and will become extremely mellow.

*If you are doing all-grain use 22.5 lb British 2 row. 

American Barley Wine

OG:1.120

FG: 1.029

IBU: 110

SRM: 35

ABV: 11.5%

Don’t drink for 2 years

Ingredients:

1 lb 60L crystal malt

10 oz munich malt

13.5 lbs Light DME

3 oz Chinook (60min)

1 oz Centennial (45min)

1 oz Centennial (5min)

WLP001

Directions:

Heat 3 gallons up to 150 and steep the grains for 30min.  Take out add the malt extract and bring to boil. At the beginning of the boil follow the hop infusion chart above.

About this recipe:

This recipe has all American hops in it as well as American yeast which will bring out citrus tones as well as smells.

*If doing all-grain use 20.5 lbs 2 row and 1 lb munich with the specialty grains. 

IN GENERAL:

With barley wines, the hops really do mellow out a lot over time.  I hope this helps anyone who is thinking of making a barley wine in the near future.  Good luck with your brewing.

 

Related Post:

How To Make Russian Imperial Stout

Russian Stout Beer Video

Tasting Of Russian Imperial Beer

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The Ultimate Brewing Calender

Sorry it’s been a while since the last post.   We’ve been working on some  major projects that will be revealed early in 2012, they are time-consuming to say at the least.  Personally, I am very excited and can’t wait to show them but until then we’ll just leave it at that.

I came across a blog where I was inspired by a brewing calendar.   What is a brewing calendar?  It’s a way to help you know when to brew what style of beer so you can drink with the season.   So when you’re giving away beer in the middle of a Virginia August, you’re not giving a Russian Imperial away – rather a wit or something on those lines.

This calendar will help you brew with the season so when St. Patties day comes around you have an Irish Red or Dry Stout ready to drink, not making one the week before.

These are just suggestions, a guide for the road ahead.   Hope it helps, and let me know if you think any should be added or rearranged.

Winter Beers

Brew in Fall —> Drink in Winter

  • Christmas – Winter Beer – Spiced Beer
  • Dry Stout
  • Sweet Stout (milk stout)
  • Oatmeal Stout
  • Extra Stout
  • Foreign Stout
  • Russian Imperial Stout – make year in advance
  • Robust Porter
  • Baltic Porter
  • American Brown
  • English Brown
  • Barley Wine – make a year in advance
  • Dark Wheats
  • Smoked Ale
  • Heavy Scotch Brews (80 Schilling & Wee Heavy’s)
  • Old Ale
Spring Beer
Brew in Winter –> Drink in Spring
  • Irish Reds
  • Dry Stout
  • Bock
  • Doppelbock
  • Pale Ale
  • Scottish Light (60 Schilling)
  • Amber’s
  • IPA
  • Wheat Beer
  • Hefeweizn
  • Fruit Wheat
  • Saison
  • Blonde Ale
  • Wit’s
  • Beire de garde

Summer Beers

Brew in Spring —> Drink in Summer

  • Pilsner
  • American Light Lager
  • American Premium Lager
  • American Standard Lager
  • Cream Ale
  • American Rye
  • Weizen’s
  • Alt
  • Kolsch
  • Summer Ale’s (usually have honey malt, honey for bottling, or lemon zest in them)
  • Steam
  • Light Saison
  • Pale Ale
  • IPA

Fall Beers

Brew in Summer –> Drink in the Fall

  • Marzen or an ale mimicking it
  • Pumpkin Beers (if you make with real pumpkins they come out in September)
  • Brown Ale’s
  • Ordinary Bitter
  • Extra Special Bitter
  • Mild
  • American Brown
  • English Brown
  • American Amber
  • English Pale Ale’s
  • Belgian Golden Strong
  • Belgian Blonde
  • Belgian Dubbel
  • Dunkelweizen
  • Black IPA (or whatever people are now calling them)

 

Related Post

Barley Wine Recipe

Russian Imperial Stout

Extra Stout

Newcastle Brown Ale