Building a Mash Tun

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  I decided to assemble a mash tun.  It was suppose to be easy from the looks of it, yet I ran into a few minor problems and a cut up finger.  First off, the stainless steel threads are sharp and should be respected.  Secondly, step away when frustrated and regroup.  Lastly, I did not follow any of those rules and I have learned my lesson.

I bought a stainless steel weldless conversion kit, which runs about 30 bucks and a bazooka screen for 19 dollars (you can find it cheaper, but I like supporting my local brew shop).  Next, I bought the Coleman Xtreme 70 QT (15 gallons) cooler, which cost 44 dollars.  Turns out that the wall was too thick for the conversion kit and I was unable to fit the o-rings.  This was annoying, but I ordered a male to male coupler extension piece, which ran me 3 bucks and gave me the room to use the o-rings.  All in all this cost me less than 100 duckets and it is cheaper than the pre-assembled mash tuns.

Coupler

Bazooka Screen

Inside look

Birds eye

Ball valve

I will spare you all the boring steps on how to do it, but if you are really interested in building one check out this link, http://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Converting_a_cooler_to_a_mash_tun
Don't be afraid to build one, it is a lot easier than you may think!

Can't wait to brew my first beer in this beast!  I need help naming the mash tun, so feel free to give me your two cents.  That is it for now.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!


 

Topping Off the Labor of Love

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Sorry for the delay.  I won't bore you with details.  I have been enjoying my volunteer position at the U-Brew Home Brew Shop.  I can not get enough of the beer world.

Soaking the bottles

Prep

Dissolving the corn sugar

Tracey and I bottled our IPA!  Unfortunately, the final gravity was 1.018.  I had miss calculated the  hydrometer.  I thought it was 1.016, which was very close to what I was striving for.  I am quite upset, yet the beer taste good and I like the body.  I knew I mashed too high!  It smells delicious...and the taste.  Grapefruit and pine are what I got out of it.  It was a bit bitter, however it should will mellow when it conditions in the bottle.

Ready for fillin'                   

 

Red Lightning

 

There she is

The cold side of this beer was a touch problematic, first off, the reading was off (user error) and the cascade hops I planned on dry hopping with smelled of cheese (not in a good way).  The bottling aspect was smoother than usual.  Now we must wait another 2 - 3 weeks!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry. Cheers!

Magic time

Whirlpool Wheat Session & Slurp n Burp Entry #2

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  The last post was getting a bit lengthy, so I decided to update you all on the recent Whirlpool Wheat brew session.

I am officially a fan of first wort hopping.  The scent that arose from the Mosaic hops was akin to a midsummer tropical dream.  Hints of passionfruit, blueberries and stone fruit careened up into my nostrils leaving me in a haze of elation.  This may sound a bit exaggerated, but it is only to show you how awesome it smelled.

The mashing was fairly smooth.  I mashed in at 153 degrees F, although I was planning on 150.  The projected Original Gravity was 1.048 and I hit 1.046, but I think it may have something to do with me being 3 degrees over the temp I wanted?

I did screw up on the whirlpool hopping, I thought I was suppose to add them at flameout and create a whirlpool, however Steve mentioned to me that it should be done while cooling the wort.  At any rate, I think it will be fine and should have a great aroma.

Yeast starter stuff

The yeast took off pretty rapidly, however it has dropped off big time this morning.  I have to take a gravity reading soon to see if all is okay, but I have a feeling it is fine.  One of the most important rules in home brewing is to relax.  I sometimes have to remind myself of this and if I don't my wife will.  All in all the brew day was nice and relaxing minus the one boil over.  Luckily, I had laid down aluminum foil to protect the stove top.

Spent grains

Due to the pleasant response of the Lapsang Souchong Smoked Vanilla Porter, I decided to enter it into the 16th annual Slurp and Burp home brew competition.  It is one of my favorite brews to-date and has a great balance of smoke.

Lastly, I am starting my first day as a volunteer at my local home brew shop, 'The Portland U-Brew.'  I look forward to increasing my knowledge, like Bill Murray's character in, 'What About Bob,' it is all about baby steps.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!

Occidental

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Last night was off the hinge.  Dan Engler, Brewmaster/Proprietor of Occidental Brewing visited the Portland U-Brew Collective bearing gifts and growlers of Bohemian Pilsner.  I don't care for pilsner beers, however Dan did a great job with this one in my humble opinion.  The beer had great hop balance to the malt character and it was crisp and drinkable.  Coalition Brewing also donated speciality grains to us.  I grabbed the Crystal 150 Lovibond, which I have never used.

Bohemian Pils

Dan spoke in depth about the steps in crafting lagers.  What I found fascinating was the part of the speech about pitching rates.  Certain lager yeast strains such as, Wyeast's 2308 Munich Lager, can benefit from being pitched at higher temperatures around 60 - 65 degrees F.  This helps the yeast to get off to an active start, however he mentions that it is not wise to let this go more than 12-30 hours.  What happens when it spends too much time at that temperature is that it will release undesired esters.  Esters are a common off flavor that taste like bananas and cloves, yet they can be desired in certain styles.  So, once the yeast builds up a strong force you can begin to bring the temp down in steps.  If you do this step quickly you may stress the yeast.  That stress may cause the yeast to release proteins that are unwanted along with Diacetyl.  Diacetyl is a common off flavor with the taste that resembles buttered popcorn or butterscotch.  Not all lager strains appreciate the higher temp pitch rate, so make sure you know the profile.

Dan speaking to us

Sharing Knowledge

After the speech we all shared our beers.  Each person explains there process, ingredient and so forth, and then we sample.  Rye beers seemed to be a hit (Steve you the man) and I drank my first home brew out of a can, which was delicious Pale Ale fermented with white wine grapes (Thanks Dale).  All the beers were great (This group can brew!).  The release of the Lapsang smoked vanilla porter was a hit.  Can not wait for the March meeting.  Thank you Collective brewers for all the great beers and thank you Dan for taking some time out of your schedule to speak with us, and thanks Coalition for the grains.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

Some of the brew we sampled

Whirlpool Wheat

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Tonight is the night the Portland U-Brew Collective is meeting up.  We are a group of home brewers that get together and share our most recent creations or our cellared beers.  We charge no fees for membership and our goal is to share information with each other.  We have a guest speaker/brewmaster tonight from Occidental Brewing (http://www.occidentalbrewing.com/).  I am really excited to learn some new stuff!  I will be bringing my 'End of The World Stout' and 'Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter.'  I brewed the Stout in November, it was comprised of Mayan Chocolate and Chipotle powder.  I will highlight the evening in my next post!

Another quick update, last night I dry hopped the Imperial IPA.  I am a bit unhinged, the Cascade hops I was about to use smelled of sweaty socks.  That scent made me turn to the Fuggles, which have a nice aroma of wood and fruit.  I don't know much, but do not use hops that smell of sock or cheese (unless the recipe calls for it).  I checked the gravity too, and well it is the same.  It looks as if the ADF will be 76.4%.  I thought about adding some simple sugars to dry it out a touch more, however I am going with my gut and letting it be.

Lastly, I decided to brew a wheat beer!  I wanted to break away from styles I normally brew.  Get out of my comfort zone.  I also have a touch of Spring fever and want something a bit lighter.  I have always enjoyed the Bavarian Weisse Style, however I am addicted to the American hop character.  I decided on the American Wheat, which is quite similar to the Bavarian Style with more of that good ole' fashion West Coast taste.

According to BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog, wheat lacks key nutrients and enzymes for proper sugar conversion during mashing.  This info helped me decide on my grain bill, which includes, 4 1/2 lbs. of Pale Malt 2-row (this will help provide the proper nutrients and enzymes), 4 lbs. of Torrified Wheat, 1/2 lb. of Carafoam (helps with head retention), and 3 oz. of Carawheat (to add some color).

I have had luck in the past with single hopped beers, and wanted to try it out again.  Mosaic (HBC369) is a new strain and the daughter to Simcoe.  The profile includes, earthy, grassy, herbal, citrus, blueberries, cedar, tropical, spice, and stonefruit.  It is an aroma hop, yet it could be used for bittering and flavor.  The Alpha acids are around 12%.  It has a low cohumulone percentage, which is a plus.  Cohumulone is an alpha acid that contributes a harsh undesired bitterness.

I am using Wyeast's 1010 American Wheat strain.  I made a starter last night and it is bubbling away!  This strain has a low flocculation, which means that the yeast have trouble settling or dropping out.  This causes cloudiness in the beer, however wheat beer tends to be cloudy and it is not considered a flaw.  The attenuation is around 74 - 78%, this tells one how much the sugars are being converted during fermentation.  A high attenuation will dry out the beer.  The profile of this strain is dry, slightly tart and crisp.

No more time to write, must brew!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.
Prost!

Um Beer...(Homer Simpson)

My Funny Little IPA & The Apparent Degree of Fermentation

Welcome Back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  It has been 4 long days since we pitched the yeast into our Imperial IPA.  The starting gravity of this beer was 1.072 or about 17.5 degrees Plato, which was not bad.  I was shooting for 18 degrees Plato, but close enough.  The first day It was bubbling like crazy and I thought to myself..."Wow pacman is going bonkers!"  Three days and several beers later it dropped to 1.016 or 4 degrees Plato.  That was unexpected, namely because I mashed at 157 degrees F.  The higher your mash temperature is the less fermentable sugars there will be.  I think the temp must of dropped a bit.  I wanted to mash lower, but I underestimated my strike water.  My hope is that it will drop to around 3 degrees Plato when it finishes.  

What does all these numbers mean?  It helps the brewer to monitor their fermentation's to make sure the yeast are active and doing the job they should be according to their profile.  Another important reason to follow these numbers is to get an idea of the beer's body (heavy, medium, light), which provides you with an estimation of the mouth feel.  Lastly, these numbers provide the alcohol percentage!

Aston Lewis is a columnist for Brew Your Own magazine.  According to Lewis, Apparent Degree of Fermentation (ADF), is a way to estimate the attenuation of the yeast.  Attenuation is the reduction of wort concentration during fermentation.  You can estimate the attenuation percentage using the ADF equation: ADF= (OG - FG) / OG.  The higher the percentage of your ADF the more alcohol you will have in your beer along with a drier/crisper mouth feel.

Right now the IPA is at 76.4% ADF.  It will be on the lower end of Imperial, but that was our goal!  Now the patience comes into play!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.
Cheers!

Philosophy Jargon

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  In the book, "Brewing Better Beers," author Gordon Strong has opened up my thoughts on the philosophy of brewing.  Anyone who knows me well knows my affinity for philosophizing.  That being said, I decided to take the time to tell you a little about my experiences and how they have shaped me as a brewer.

You may wonder how I got into brewing beer?  I started working at the Aberdeen brewpub in Valparaiso, IN., which is no longer a brewpub.  Sam Strupeck, the head brewer of the joint went on and opened Shoreline Brewery in Michigan City, IN. (http://shorelinebrewery.com/).  If you ever find your way out there you must try the Queen Mum.  That was my favorite beer at Aberdeen and he still makes it.  Working around craft beer made me thirsty to make my own, so my dad and I got a brew kit and the rest is history.

Around the same time I got into brewing things got a little harry.  I found myself disoriented being rushed down a white corridor on Valentine's day ten years ago.  I had been in a near fatal car crash.  When I realized what had happened I burst into tears of joy knowing I still had an opportunity at life.  I am not telling you this for sympathy or for miracle status.  My perspective from that moment on has changed me immensely.  I have tried to live everyday like it was my last.  People always say that shit, but I am being sincere.  This is how I feel about all my batches of beer.  I brew like it will be my last.

I grew up in an artistic home, which influenced my vision of the world.  I went to film school and focused much of my attention on documentary film making.  I love putting a story together with what ever is around me.  How does this relate?  Brewing in my mind is similar to a story.  You take what is available around you and make the best beer possible, and if it turns out to be shit you learn from your mistakes.  My Professor used to say, "you can't polish a turd." Your beer turns out bad there is no fixing it, well for the most part.

All my favorite hobbies and interests fall under the category of boring, yet there is an element of surprise to them all.  For instance, in baseball not much can go on for hours, but wait... walk off home run! I don't want to get to caught up in examples.  There is a patience in brewing you must have, sometimes the beers taste better with age.  Like my mother use to say, patience is a virtue.

Humor is the most important of them all!  I love it dry.  I have been embarrassed many of times, yet I am able to laugh at myself and get back up (sometimes slower than other times).  With brewing there are times when I make stupid errors, as if I had never brewed before.  You can beat yourself up over it, but why not laugh in shame and learn from it?

My Philosophy on brewing in a nutshell: brew like it will be your last batch, be inventive, be artistic, be adaptable, be patient, and most important be able to find the humor.  That is my two cents.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.

 "I mean business look" (the mustache is not real)

Cheers!  

Love at First Wort Hop

Welcome Back to OFF THE HINGE BREWING!  Tracey and I made our Valentine's Day IPA.  We call it, 'My Funny Little IPA,' although there is nothing little or funny about this Imperial Pale.

Pacman Yeast Starter

I hate to admit this, and many may dismiss me as a fool?  I have never made a yeast starter, yes it is true.  I know how outlandish this seems, but I have always had good success with the Wyeast Smack Packs.  Why do the extra work?  Well, no longer will I follow this mode of thinking.  I realize that it is fine to make good beer, but it takes a lot of time and effort.  I don't want to waste my time on good beer.  I want to waste my time on excellent beer.  I have come to the conclusion that making a yeast starter may be one of the easiest things I have ever done.  The lag time for this beer has been cut by about 3/4 the time it usually takes for fermentation to start up.  This will aid the beer by not allowing off flavors to set in.  That being said lets move on.
  

Hop schedule 

I just finished a great book written by, Stan Hieronymus, "For the Love of Hops."  This is a must read for hop heads!  I am always looking for ways to improve my brewing practices.  I decided to try an old German practice, "First Wort Hopping."  This practice involves adding a large sum of aroma hops into the boil pot as the wort is being transfered from the lauter tun.  This is unfortunately where I made a mistake, however, I hope it does not adversely affect the beer.  It says to use 30% of the total amount of hops used during the boil when applying the first wort method, however I used about 12%.  The goal is to give your beer more IBU's with a more rounded bitterness without the harshness that sometimes comes with high IBU's.  It also aids with aroma, which seems counterintuitive because one would think that it would be boiled out.  Jean-Marie Rock of Orval Trappist has found that aromas do carry over.  These aromas are more subtle and crisp, whereas late additions often times have a vegetative aroma, which can be unwelcome.  I can't wait to find out how this beer will taste!

Here is our list of Ingredients for those that are interested.

After the mash

Angel Dust IPA

HOPS
 1 oz of Warrior
.5 oz of Magnum
 2 oz of Cascade
 1 oz of Amarillo
 2 oz of Citra
.25 oz of Mosaic

GRAINS
 10 lbs of Pale Malt 2-row
 2.5 lbs of Marris Otter

Labor of love

 12 oz of Melanoidin Malt
 8 oz of Cara-Pils
 8 oz of Crystal 60 L

                                     YEAST
                                      Starter of Pacman 1764 Wyeast

Droppin it like it's hop

Who Needs Flowers When You Can Have A Beer?

Bricklandia before the bottle

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing.  Good news from the Middle West!  Bricklandia is currently conditioning in bottles.  Thank you Luke and Enrique for your hard work.

My wife told me she did not want flowers for Valentines day, so I thought about the things she likes...We will make beer together!  To my surprise she appeared excited for the opportunity to brew.  Knowing her appreciation for IPA's, we decided to brew an American Imperial IPA.  I will keep you all in the loop!  I must go eat fish tacos.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!

  

Baby bottles and beer bottles

\

Bricklandia after being bottled

Ye Old Jabberwocky Barley Wine

Steve Mash

Mashing temp is on target

Matt Cortese, Steve Childs, and Bradley Corlett

These are our serious faces

Stirring the thick ass wort

Trying not to spill too much

Welcome Back!  I am here to report that Friday's brew session was a success.  Bradley Corlett (friend/homebrewer/co-worker) made a guest appearance with a homebrew in hand.  Steve came up with a great name, 'Ye Old Jabberwocky Barley Wine.'  According to Merriam-Webster, jabberwocky is a meaningless speech or writing.  I do not have any proof, but drink too much of this stuff and you might be speaking jabberwocky.  It looks like it should fall in the 10% ABV range.  We boiled 8 gallons down to about 5 gallons.  This thick wort smelled of something from outer space; sweet, nutty, and spicy.  The west coast hops will add a good American balance to the bold body of this libation from across the lake.  We used a Wyeast 1056 yeast cake, which is the American yeast strain.  Now the wait, and a long one it will be.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers and Happy Chinese New Year!

Old Barely Wine on the horizon!

Hops in a row

One more day until brew day!  I have not brewed any beer for over a week, luckily Steve had a great idea...Barley wine.  Yes sir, a sweet malty nectar of the gods.  I have never tried to make this powerful potion.  Barley wine has a similar alcohol percentage as wine. What separates this beer from wine is simple, barley.  It has its roots in England, and is considered an "old" ale.  A lot of craft breweries pay homage to the history by naming their barley wines with "old" in front of the name.  For instance, Stone Brewery uses the moniker 'Old Gaurdian' (I just recently tried this and it is good).  In the 1970's, Fritz Maytag, of Anchor Steam Brewing created the spark for the American version of barley wine, which tends to have more of a hop bite.  The complexities increase with age as it dries out and the hops mellow.  Steve has created a great recipe and I look forward to our next collaboration.  I will keep you all in the loop.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

Bricklandia

Meeting of the minds

I recently took a trip back to my hometown of Hobart, Indiana; or in the words of my uncle, "The land of mullets and domestic violence."  I was lucky not to have either of those things in my life.  Indiana was the state that I first started brewing beer.  The majority of them off-flavored extract brews.  These first attempts were not fruitless (actually one was a peach wheat), and I recommend everyone tries brewing extract beers at least a couple of times.  This helps one get the process down.  Let us skip to the good shit.  On the last day of my trip we got the whole family and some friends together and made a beer. In my mind, nothing brings a family together quite like beer; although too much and old issues may arise.  Fortunately, this day was full of joy with a moment of panic/low blood sugar.  The kitchen got a bit crowded during the end of the boil.  We hurried up and cooled it down with the immersion cooler and pitched some Irish yeast.  Luke Greener (brother-in-law) and Enrique Montemayor (friend) will see the fermentation through, for I am 2,140.6 miles away.  On Sunday, Luke transferred the beer to secondary and added the cold pressed coffee.  We decided on cold pressing coffee because it lowers acidity and the flavors are more pronounced.  Can't wait for more feedback!  Bottling is on the horizon.  I forgot to mention in the past two post, but I would love to hear what you think about the post, recipes you have made, failures, triumphs, and whatever else related to brewing or beer.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!
P.S. The name of the brew is called 'Bricklandia.' Hobart was once a major brick producer and why not exploit Portlandia?  It seems the popular thing to do, plus it has some Portland influence. 

Luke and I are ready to sparge

Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter is bottled!

This is right before we bottled

I am always searching out new ideas for brewing unique beers.  My wonderful mother-in-law took my wife and I out to the Woodsman Tavern (http://woodsmantavern.com/), which serves great food and drinks.  Being a fan of bourbon I ordered the 'Kentucky Special.' No joke, it was special.  I could not stop thinking about the complexity of it and the smokiness of it.  The drink had one special ingredient in my mind, which was Lapsang Souchong. This black tea from the Fujian province of China imparts a brilliant sweet smokiness from the pine wood it is smoked on.  I liked how it worked with the vanilla oak of the bourbon.  I decided to recreate the 'Kentucky Special' in my favorite form, BEER!  I made an extract by soaking sliced vanilla beans and Lapsang Souchong in vodka for 30 days.  After brewing the beer with Steve Childs, we added the smoky vanilla extract into the secondary fermentation phase.  It is now bottled!  It needs to condition in the bottle for about 2-3 weeks.  Hopefully it will be a special experience to drink.  I am really grateful for all the people involved in making this beer happen.  Cheers to the farmers, labors, distributors, retailers, bartenders, Steve, Muriel, and the list goes on...

Quick Intro

This is me making my Wedding Wheat beer

The crafting of beer is a wonderful thing, and like all wonderful things it can bring lots of joy and heartbreak (mostly the former).  I have been wanting to write about my experiences and recently some external forces have guided me to get off my lazy ass and write (Thanks Cheryl).  I also just entered my "Angel Dust"(this beer contains NO drugs) into my first competition.  Hopefully all goes well at Slurp and Burp.  I have to cut this short because I need to go bottle my Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter with my brew partner Steven Childs, but I look forward to the next post.  See you soon.