Update

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Not much has been brewing up except the common cold and the old familiar pangs of the day job, however I felt the need to update you all on what has been  happening with OTHB.

First off, "Beach Bum Red" is bottled and conditioning!  The final gravity hit 1.010 and I expect a crisp clean finish.  I had to test it uncarbed as per usual, and it tasted promising.  I think I should have dry hopped it to add to the aroma, however I think it will be fine.  I can't help myself I always want to dry hop, I am a hop head.

Secondly, OTHB garden is near complete with three hops, Cascade, Chinook and Zeus.  I just transplanted a lavender plant into the box that Tracey donated to the cause.  This project is exciting and the hops are already bolting skyward.  Next, I need to find where to get some barley and a few other brewing ingredients.

Testing the scent of the hops!

Lastly, Just dry hopped and transferred "Stars and Bars Polly Olly."  I had a 1/4 of an ounce of Mosaic and 1 3/4 ounce of Centennial.  I am sad to know that the UBrew is out of Mosaic hops for the year.  The beer smells like peaches and very floral.

I am in need of a brew session!  Well, that is it for now.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry!

Prost!

Cedar Inspiration

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Spring has sprung forth my hop shoots.  This will be my second year growing them.  I feel it is time to step up and grow a full off the hinge garden.  I am thinking about planting barley, rhubarb, lavender, lemongrass, and jalapeno's .  I would love to hear your suggestions on other items.

I was not super content on where my plants grew last year, so Tracey and I took a drive to Mr. Plywood and got some rough cedar boards for the new garden box.  Eight foot boards will fit into a Toyota Camry, but it does require ingenuity.  So, on I went with my katzenjammer.  The garden box is now complete and ready for the next stage, but that will have to wait till tomorrow...

Recently, I have been coming across great tasting cedar beers.  The smell from cutting the cedar was so pleasant that I decided cedar beer is in my future.  I am taking a small break (next week?) until I can free up some room for more beer.

Cutting some 4 by 4

Assembling the side

The last screw

Audrey the best chicken ever

UPDATE:  The Whirlpool Wheat is a great tasting tropical beer with hints of peach, papaya, blueberry and passion fruit.  I am in love with Mosaic hops.  The Funny Little IPA turned out okay, but I thought it was a bit too sweet, however everyone at the brewers collective seemed to like it.  I think next time I will try to mash lower.  Well that is it for now, I will keep you up to date on the garden.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!

Stir Plate

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  I wanted better yeast starters, so I built my own stir plate.  My beer has improved due to the starters that I have made in the past, yet that is not enough for my standards.  I have read many threads on the subject and decided to go a bit more pro by making a stir plate.  This project made me feel like Richard Dean Anderson!

A stir plate is a rotating magnetic force that turns a piece of metal (stir bar) inside the starter causing a vortex within the wort.  The reason for this motion is to keep the yeast in constant suspension.

There are several advantages to doing this.  First, it provides the wort and the yeast with an ample amount of oxygen.  Wyeast Laboratories states, "Oxygen is used by yeast for synthesis of sterols and unsaturated fatty acids that are necessary growth factors.  Without oxygen, these lipids can't be biosynthesized and growth will be very limited.  The sterols and fatty acids produced are also very important in the structure of the cell membrane and the ability of the yeast to respond to external and internal stresses.  Adequate oxygen in the wort when the yeast is pitched is essential to a successful fermentation and long-term health of the culture."  As you can see oxygen is important.  Secondly, once the yeast begins fermenting the starter, the stirring will push the CO2 out of solution, this will aid in healthier yeast cells.  Lastly, the yeast will stay in contact with the sugars for a longer time.  This helps them propagate more rapidly and create healthier cells.  The benefits are that the yeast will take off quicker once pitched into the carboy, the speed of fermentation will increase, and the fermentation will be more complete.

My Stir plate Stir Crazy

With all that jargon in mind, I set off and made my own stir plate.  The total cost was $18, which is pretty cheap.  You can purchase stir plates at about $45 - $200, if you are lucky you might find one cheaper, but they are fairly easy to make.  I used a computer fan that I already had, cut out the metal grate leaving one ring so that the Erlenmeyer flask could sit on top of it.  Next, I took apart an old hard drive that did not work and extracted a rare earth magnet (this was no easy feat).  I then cut out the center metal piece from the fan grate and glued it in the center of the fan, so that the magnet would stay put in the center.  Lastly, I went out and spent $18 on the flask and stir bar.  I was expecting Murphey's law to kick in, but nothing went wrong!  Stir Crazy is a champ.  Can't wait for the next brew!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Salute!

This is a stir bar

In action

In action up close

 

Stars & Bars Polly Olly

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  American beers are number one!  Don't get me wrong other countries make great beer (England/Belgium/Germany to name a few), however the aggressive citrus hop character of the USA is a real crowd pleaser to my pallet.

My Funny Little IPA is not quite ready

Ryan Winn, friend/co-worker wanted to brew a beer for the first time and we decided on an American pale ale due to a mutual appreciation for that style.  To pay homage to Old Glory we named the beer, Stars & Bars Polly Olly.  The Polly Olly part of the name originated when his sister's old flame tried a pale ale for the first time and pronounced it polly olly.  I also think it sounds more exotic, which amplifies the style.

Mash

It was a great time, friends, music, beer, and brewing.  We mashed in 10.5 lbs of US 2-Row, .5 lb of Victory, .25 lb of US Munich, and .25 lb of Cara Pils @ 157 F, which was a little too high.  It was an easy fix.  We added a bit of cool water and stirred it up and got down to 154.  We held it at 154 for 75 minutes.  

First wort pellets

Squeezing out the hop goodness and burning my hand

We first wort hopped it with 1 oz. of Citra hop pellets.  The aroma was great and smelled citrusy.  Next, we added 1 oz. of Mosaic at 15 minutes left in the boil along with our Whirlfloc and yeast nutrients.  Our last addition at flame out (0 minutes) included 2 oz. of Citra, 2 oz. of Mosaic and 2 oz. of wet (Fresh) Northern Brewer hops.  The Northern Brewer hops were a Christmas Gift (thanks David P.) that were vacuumed sealed and they smelled super good.

Ryan Pitched in the Wyeast 1272 American Ale II starter, which I made the night before.  This strain is a little bit fruitier and more flocculant than 1056 American Ale strain.  The profile contains a nutty hint, soft, clean, and a little tart finish.

Last two additions

We mean business

Grey Bear keeping an eye on things

Ryan dropping in the Whirlfloc

Checking Pre Boil Gravity (1.056)

This beer should be quite good, It has been fermenting vigorously.  I have never been able to smell the hops from the other room until now.  The aroma is great.  Can't wait to try this one out.  Thanks Ryan for your help and David P. for the fresh hops.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers! 

Belgian Candi Sugar for the Quadratic Equation

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Some of you maybe wondering how the "Quad" brewing experience went?  It was sweet (no pun intended)!  Steve and I made Belgian Candi Sugar, which is a great brewing adjunct.  Belgian Candi Sugar is an inverted sugar syrup used to add alcohol to the beer without adding body.  The darker versions add color and flavor.  You can find this at any home brew store, however it digs deep into the wallet.  Luckily, it is not too hard to make.  You need to have a candy thermometer if you try this.

We started the process by weighing out 2 lbs. of sugar and added a touch too much water.  We just had to cook it longer to evaporate it.    As the temp rises and the solution clears we stir it periodically. Once the boil began we added a pinch of citric acid to provide the acidic environment needed to help invert the sucrose into glucose and fructose.  

Before we move on, it is important to invert sucrose into fermentable monosaccharides (simplest forms of sugar) of glucose and fructose.  In short, yeast will not have to exert energy they would otherwise use inverting sucrose themselves.  Giving them a happy and stress free environment, which allows them to ferment like a champ.

Next, we brought the temp up to 260 degrees F for 20 minutes.  You do not want to go over 275.  You need to hold the 260 degree temp to invert the sugar.  This is the hardest part, occasionally we hit over 275.  To cool it down we added a couple of drops of water and that worked fine.  After 20 minutes the sugars began to caramelize,  We tested the caramelization every 5 minutes to find the desired color and taste. 

Lastly, we found the right strength and cooled it down.  Just before we used the Belgian Candi, we added some hot wort to it.  We wanted the syrup to be the same temp to keep the boil going strong.  This was a great process, not to mention it tasted great.

In my mind, what makes a great beer is the effort and the extra touch.  I feel we hit this mark and I can't wait to try the beer.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.

Cheers!

Slurp & Burp Sucess!

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  This blog needs a logo.  I was sketching thumbnail drawings for a possible logo.  I could not come up with anything worth a damn.  I decided to get onto Adobe Photoshop and I came up with this logo.  I would love to here what you think about it?  There is always room for improvement.  Let us move on...

Sampling some brews

Steve and I are going to brew our first quad today!  This beer is a strong dark ale, 'quadrupel' the alcohol.  It tends to be spicy with notes of ripe fruit.  This will be aged!  Strong beers tend to develop nice rounded flavors with age.  I almost forgot, we will be making our own Belgian Candy Sugar for the beer.  Can't wait to mash in and make some sweet wort!

Slurp & Burp

Lastly, I am very excited to let you all know that Angel Dust IPA brought home the Silver in the 16th annual Slurp & Burp competition!  It was quite shocking to hear Angel Dust announced.  It scored a 33, which is in the "very good" category.  The marks against it were in the aroma category, which I feel is accurate.  IPA's tend to lose aroma with age, and it was brewed awhile ago.  Next time, I will brew closer to competition time.

It was great to have Megan & Steve with us.  There were tons of raffle items and we were fortunate to win several prizes.  The Lapsang Smoked Vanilla Porter did not place unfortunately, but we got great feedback and it did score well with a 28.5, which is in the "good" category.  The downfall of the Porter was that the tea tannins made the beer astringent, which I think is an accurate assessment.  Next time, I will not soak the tea for 30 days.  Overall, it was a fun and rewarding evening and I would love to do it again.  Maybe, even be a judge?  That is all for now, I need to go brew more beer.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.

Tons of raffle prizes

Lompoc hoodie (I am not that wide the sweatshirt is too big), posters, gift card, beer and a medal not a bad night!

P.S. Thanks Tracey for putting up with me!  Behind every good man is a better woman.

Bottling and The Pursuit of Happiness

Just woke up and tested the Whirlpool Wheat

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  Bottling tends to be a burden for most home brewers.  It is a tedious non glamorous duty.  There are several reasons why it is hard to enjoy bottling, but why not focus on the positive notes.  In my thoughts, to really get the most out of the experience one must engage all the scenes. 

Bottling the barley wine 

When you pull the lid off of the fermentor there is a warmth and aroma that lifts up into your face.  I am convinced that the Whirlpool wheat is the best smelling beer I have ever made, It was akin to a warm Hawaiian breeze.  I think all of the aroma techniques that were used to craft this session beer worked out.  The Ye Old Jabberwocky had a wonderful scent too, with hints of raisin and sugar. 

Ye Old Jabberwocky

The different hues and clarity in the beer can be gratifying.  For example, the clear dark copper/amber of the Ye Old Jabberwocky and the cloudy the light straw gold of the Whirlpool Wheat are ascetically pleasing.  The barley wine especially.  The reason the wheat beer is  hazy is due to the high level of protein in wheat that will not settle out.

Once you have sniffed the beer, gave it a good look over and took a gravity reading, it is time to taste the beer.  This is my favorite part, although the beer is warm and sweet it is still satisfying.  This will give you a good idea of how the final product will turn out.  When you taste the beer you are not just tasting you are also feeling the beer.  How smooth it is and if it is light or heavy.  Let us compare the two beers that we bottled yesterday.  The wheat beer was crisp with a medium to light body, whereas the barley wine was smooth and full bodied.

What about sound?  There are many sounds during bottling, the whistle of the bottle filler, the clinking of the bottles, the capping of the bottles, and the, "oh shit I overfilled this bottle."  The later happens when I am doing this by myself.  Luckily, I had help yesterday from Tracey and Steve.

Overall, bottling is a laborious and robotic job, yet if you immerse yourself into the process it can be a great experience.  The part that I dislike the most is waiting another 2 to 3 weeks for bottle conditioning.  All good things take time.  Can't wait to share the tasting notes with you and if your lucky you might get to try it!  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  

Finishing the Whirlpool

P.S.  Today is Slurp and Burp!  I will update you all on the event. Cheers!

Beach Bum Red Ale

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  I decided that over a week is long enough to wait for the next batch.  I was asked to make a red ale.  Why not?  It is March and I am getting restless.  This is not an Irish style.  This is America!  With that said, I decided to put a little west coast (San Diego) into this liquid miracle.  There were a few things I have never used in this brew.  

First, this is the inaugural run of the Blue Beast!  It was great to introduce the Beast to mashing, however we both are new to each other and we have to find our bearings.  She held the heat well, but it dropped more than I had anticipated.  I wanted to mash at 153 degrees F, and I ended up mashing at 150.  That is after I added more hot water.  It was originally at 148.  It will be a bit stronger than I planned, however I planned on a lower gravity.  The style calls for an original gravity of 1.045 - 1.060 and I hit 1.054, but I wanted 1.051. 

Secondly, I used Victory Malt for the first time.  Victory is a biscuit malt lightly roasted, resulting in a 25 - 28 degree L (L represents lovibond, which is a measurement of color).  The flavor profile consist of toasty, biscuity, baking bread, nutty, and clean.  This malt adds a depth of flavor when combined with a high kilned crystal malt (75-150 L), I used Crystal 120 L.

Lastly, I used a technique of late hopping, which I have never attempted.  Instead of adding my bittering hops at 60 minutes.  I added mine at 20 minutes.  I read about this technique in the article I mentioned in the last post.  AleSmith in San Diego uses this technique in a beer called 'Evil Dead Red.'  The point of this is to give a more perceived rounded bitterness instead of the harsh bitterness which is associated with the a lot of the supper hoppy beers.

As for hops, I used Centennial and Mosaic.  I am on a Mosaic kick!  My hope is that the fruitiness of the Centennials will meld well with the fruit notes of the Mosaic.  I used the American Ale Wyeast 1056.  I did a starter the night before and it is off to a great start (no pun intended).  As for the Malts, I did not mention; 7.5 lbs. of American 2-row, 1 lb of US Munich, .25 lb of Cara-Pils, and .25 lb of Pale Chocolate.  I used .5 lb of the other two.  

I have to check out, so remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry.  Cheers!     

The First Mash in the Blue Beast & Gracie eating in the background

Beach Bum Red getting started

Get a quick boil going

Hot Break

The final trickle of the mash

Filling a hop sock can be exciting

Almost ready for hop additions

Spent grains 

Hop Crazed

Welcome back to Off The Hinge Brewing!  I have a update for all you beer fans, plus some info on hopping techniques.  First off, it looks as if the Whirlpool Wheat beer is fermenting as planned.  A couple days ago I checked the gravity and found it was at about 1.018, which is right on for after primary conditioning.  The secondary phase should drop it down to 1.012, which is the desired final gravity.  I am skeptical of this so, I decided to add a bit more sugar and rouse the yeast in hopes to hit the target gravity.

I thought about peeling blueberries and adding them.  Why would I do that?  The reason behind this crazy thought was to play on the Mosaic hop flavor profile of blueberry.  I did not want the skin to change the color of the beer.  After peeling about five berries, I decided that it was too much work for such a little amount I would have added to the batch.  I wanted the hop to be the highlight.  I ended up just boiling those five berries with a 1/4 cup of corn sugar and then cooling it down to the temperature of the fermenting beer (68 F), so I would not shock the yeast.  Adding sugar will give the yeast more food to chew up and it will help to drop the gravity.

Hop additions are ready

I am crazy about hops!  Most people that know me would claim that I am just crazy, but what is important is that hops are fantastic.  I am always seeking out new ways to get the most out of hops.  There are many techniques out there and I will describe the techniques that I used in the Whirlpool Wheat.

First off, I reverted back to the old German tradition of 'First Wort Hopping', which I used on my last batch and was impressed by the scent it gave off (can't wait to try it).  It rounds off the perceived bitterness and emphasizes the flavors.  There has been taste test that have proved this idea.  You just add some aroma hops as your mashing out and proceed as normal.  

Next, I used a late hopping technique called, 'whirlpool hopping'.  This technique is gaining popularity and is used a lot in San Diego, California.  This is done by adding hops to the wort as your cooling it down.  It extracts fragile oils and increases the aroma.  There is a great article about late additions you should read if you have the time and here is the link, http://www.mrmalty.com/late_hopping.php

Lastly, I dry hopped, which is a common practice to improve aroma and flavor.  All you do is drop some hops into the fermenter after primary is done.  The reason you do not want to do it during the primary phase is that the C02 will push out most of the aroma you are trying to capture.  Last night, I dropped 2 oz. of Mosaic hops into the beer.  Dry hopping often has more grassy flavors compared to whirlpool, yet I have never noticed.

I hope that applying these techniques I will achieve different layers from a single hopped beer.  Next step is bottling in about 5 days.  I can't wait to see how it turns out.  I also need to brew, it has been over a week and I need my fix.  Remember to drink good beer responsibly and be merry. Cheers!