Tom's first brew

"Whatever you do, don't squeeze the bag!" (quote of the evening)

Last night, Tom and I brewed his very first beer. He purchased a similar beginner's kit to mine (single fermenter) and used a pale ale recipe. If you happen to be near Tempe, the Brewer's Connection shop had a very knowledgeable and pleasant staff. The recipe:

6 lb. Plain Light DME
1/2 lb. Carapils Grains
1/2 lb. Crystal 60L Grains
1 oz. cascade hop pellets (bittering)
1 oz. cascade hop pellets (aroma)
1 Package SafAle Yeast
1 tsp gypsum
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 lb. Dextrose

The main differences for me in this brew were:

• a nearly full boil (about 4 gallons) - helps to bring out the flavors better because they have more room in the pot to roll around
• heating to 160, and steeping the grain bag at that temperature for 25 minutes and not squeezing the grain bag - to avoid leeching too many tannins into the brew
• gypsum (to harden the water for the purpose of better suspending particulates)
• Irish Moss (a clarifying agent)
• Brewing to the gravity, not the volume (to make sure the concentration was right)
• iodophor as a sanitizer (instead of C-Brite)
• a big kitchen to work in

Every time I brew, it gets easier and I learn something new. The gypsum and Irish Moss made the break proteins coagulate FAR more quickly and completely. I'm definitely going to place and order for some of that.

Tom's observation on the finished wort:

"It is bold! I like it!"

Almost forgot to mention the tub

Not sure that the IPA is a success. To me it tastes a little sour, and it has little of the hop bitterness character that defines an IPA.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Sean helped me to identify the probable reason for the IPA's low OG. As to the taste, he was able to put to rest my concerns that the beer might be infected, however, he did think it may have been fermented at too high a temperature. That could account for off-flavors.

This is timely information, because I am about to brew the Altbier, and I have heard that it is even more sensitive to brewing temperature than my previous brews. Apartments get hot, so I am going to try a low-tech system I have heard many people say works well for cooling the fermenter a bit:

• place the full fermenter in a tub with water (not so much that the fermenter floats)
• cover the fermenter with a wet towel or t-shirt with the bottom of the cloth in the water
• run a fan on the setup

The idea is that as the water evaporates it cools the fermenter like perspiring cools a person. I am told to expect up to a five degree drop in temperature. This method may not work well in a humid environment, but my apartment is pretty dry. This method also insulates the fermenter a bit against changing temperatures. With the IPA, I know that the temperature rose above 78º F and got as far down as 68º at one point.

I still have hope that the IPA will improve with time. In the meantime, on to the next brew!

Burp Castle and the truth behind OG

The last couple days have been very good for my beer (and mead) education. Monday night we visited Petite Abeille to sample their belgian beers, of which there are many. A few of the notables:

Triple Karmeliet
Rochefort 11.3%
La Chouffe
Grimbergen Triple

And last night I went to my first meeting of the New York City Homebrewers Guild over at Burp Castle. This was mead night, and Vicky Rowe of gotmead.com shared her knowledge and her mead. The meeting was incredibly well-attended. Got to try traditional mead, Christmas mead, vanilla-ginger mead, among others (lost count). I even met a bee-keeper from Poughkeepsie!

On the education front, one of the NYCHG members, Sean, may have determined the true cause of my low OG measurements on my brews. He tasted my IPA and said he found it quite drinkable, but the mouth-feel is a bit thin, and it didn't have good head-retention. He asked what the OG was - I said about 1.037.

He said he made an IPA and the OG was about 1.058, and definitely had more body to it. So it could be that the hydrometer reading is correct, and my beer is too dilute. Sean said I should brew to the gravity not to the volume. I had been assuming that I should always make five gallons in a recipe, but on reflection, that measurement is a little arbitrary. Better to have the right concentration than a particular volume. Also, it is possible that the gallon markings on my fermenter may not be correct either. I'll have to check that.

The other useful feedback he gave me was to let the hops boil free rather than in a muslin bag. You get better hop utilization that way. No big deal if you can't strain them all out and some get in the fermenter. Since my IPA is not so hoppy, it tastes more like a pale ale. Thanks for the help, Sean!

Sean introduced me to a new resource: Brew Commune.

Ended the night at Hop Devil, to try beers from Southern Tier, Sixpoint, and Smutty Nose, comparing their summer beers, porters, and IPAs. I must admit a fondness for Sixpoint since going on their brewery tour, but all the beers were good.

Lessons from Bethlehem

Last week I was in Bethlehem, and I made my regular pilgrimage to Keystone Brew Supply. Always a pleasure to see Ray. As I mentioned in the previous post, I picked up Radical Brewing, a great read.

I bought my next two beer kits as well (as long as I was there...) -- a Porter and a Nut Brown. More importantly, however, I picked up a little extra insight from Ray.

As I have mentioned, I have been struggling with what I felt were incorrect measurements on my hydrometer. Well, it turns out that the hydrometer case was never intended as a beaker to take hydrometer measurements. Besides being very easy to knock over, the walls of the vessel are too narrow. The hydrometer therefore does not have the room to float freely. Maybe surface tension sucks it to the side? Who knows. In any case, for $2 and change, I have a nice, slightly wider, infinitely more stable vessel to take those original and final gravity measurements.

Also, I may end up going over to the dark side (sooner than I expected) -- kegging. While I have no problem with working to get a good result, bottling seems like misspent energy. Why spend the better part of a day de-labeling, cleaning, sanitizing, individually filling and capping bottles when most of the beer gets drunk at home anyway?

I could see at some point going to a system where I bottle a six-pack or two per batch (for sharing, picnics), but keg the rest. Of course, I can also see going to all-grain brewing, but all in good time.

While I am on the festival circuit, maybe I should check out the Long Island Beer Festival. It would be fun to talk to the Smutty Nose guys.

Must put in the Altbier soon.

Sixpoint Brewery tour

Do yourself a favor and take the Sixpoint Craft Ales brewery tour in Red Hook, Brooklyn. I had the pleasure of meeting brewmaster Shane Welch at TAP New York last weekend and he said come on by. So I did, joined by my wife and her mother to celebrate her birthday.

He began the tour by saying that he normally takes people into the brewery, shows the equipment, talks about how everything works... but "that's boring - it's a nice day, so why don't you get your complimentary beer now, meet me on the roof, and I'll tell you a few stories first."

The man is a natural storyteller, but he has clearly had some great experiences starting a small business from a dream. Fifteen months going strong.

First time I ever had beer right out of cold conditioning in a brewery. Wow. Try the IPA.

I wouldn't dream of ruining any of the stories. Just take the tour. And find places to drink their beer.

Very social day. In addition to the three of us, we ran into Michael from The NYC Homebrewer's Guild, who was every bit as enthusiastic about the people, the brewery and the beer that is Sixpoint.

I am reading Radical Brewing! Very well-written. Every so often you need a pick-me-up, and inspiration for your brewing. Good book for it.

TAP New York!

Yesterday was a great day. Lissa and I joined several members of the New York City Homebrewers Guild for a day up at Hunter Mountain. A dozen of us made the 2 1/2 hour drive each way. Tap New York is the first event I have attended with the club, and I
am happy to say that they are a great group of people.

We sampled from thirty or so microbreweries, most from the New York area, though New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Quebec each had one to show the colors for the state. Should you see them, I suggest trying the following breweries:

Brewery Ommegang (Cooperstown, NY) - Rare Vos
Southampton Publick House (Southampton, NY) - 10th Anniversary Ale
Legacy Brewing Company (Reading, PA) - Euphoria
Unibroue (Chambly, Quebec) - Fin du Monde (not making this up).

Unibroue had several great Belgians, and I would happily recommend Don de Dieu and Maudit in addition to the very tasty Fin du Monde.

All this and good food too. Definitely planning to go next year too!

Great new homebrewer Q&A post on Homebrewers' LiveJournal.